Healthy New Town: Barking Riverside

In March 2016, NHS England announced Barking Riverside as one of ten demonstrator Healthy New Towns. make:good and Studio 3 Arts were jointly commissioned by LBBD, Care City and NHS England to find out local health priorities in Barking Riverside, as part of the Healthy New Towns project. Working with existing community groups, leaders and individuals we gathered priorities, identified obstacles, and tested ideas surrounding health and wellbeing. Over the course of 6 months and 12 events, we engaged more than 700 locals, gathering over 450 pieces of individual feedback and monitoring data from 100 people. The project culminated in the extremely well attended ‘Feel Good Friday’, a celebration event which showcased established and aspiring local practitioners. The event provided valuable insight and feedback, and built solid foundations for locally owned initiatives that the HNT project could support in the future.