hands on hearts
About us
Hands on Hearts works with communities to create giant bunting chains, to celebrate our communities and the amazing things we can achieve when we support each other.
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These beautiful works of art have so far been displayed in various settings - including community centres and playgrounds, a women's hostel, at The British Library - and even a DIY shop.
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We are run entirely by volunteers and deliver free workshops which are open to all, regardless of age or how confident you are at crafts (as if you don't want to sew you can draw or use glue).
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The project is being developed in the London borough of Camden, but we have ambitions to bring the project to other parts of the UK - and the world!
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Making the chains
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The chains are made up of individually made bunting flags, mainly using unwanted or old material that is given a new life by its maker.
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Makers create representations of their hands and hearts, taking the project's purpose of celebrating community strength and expressing it however they wish.
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Each bunting flag tells its own story and together, they speak of how important it is for communities to pull together.
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Who has taken part
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People from all sorts of walks of life have taken part, ranging from the very young to community elders.
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Makers so far have had all sorts of different abilities (including plenty of people who say they're not creative!).
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The project started during the 2020 lockdown in a Camden community garden and has grown slowly since then (scroll down for more on how the project came to life).
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Where we are now
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We are currently working in the Gospel Oak area of Camden, with a wellbeing project for parents in a school and with a warm spaces project in a housing estate.
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Residents young and old from the estate have been working on their flags.
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We hope to hang them in the housing estate in the Summer, to celebrate the love we have in our communities in all its different shapes and forms.
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Now, plans are afoot to grow the project elsewhere...
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We have started working with a cost of living crisis charity in south London and we are also preparing bunting making packs to send further afield...
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The first packs will go to an artist in Northumberland, a potter in the far north of Scotland and to a teacher working in a rural area of Japan. So quite a mix!
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Growing the chain
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Up until now we have run the project on a shoestring.
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Amazing levels of support has come in many different shapes and forms and without this we wouldn't still be going.
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However, in order to grow the project we now need to raise some funds and so have started a crowdfunder.
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Social justice - from and through our hearts...
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This project brings people joy.
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But it has a serious purpose - to bring people together and experience the power of collective action and all that can come from that.
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We hope that people joining workshops will experience feeling happier and more connected to their communities.
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And we want to hold an exhibition, gathering all of the work created as a mass visual display of collective creation and action.
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Support us
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If you are able to donate then any amount, no matter how small will help make our hope for an exhibition a reality.
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Your donation will be truly valued and spent well.
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You will be helping us to bring workshops to more areas of the UK and beyond.
Please donate through our crowdfunder (where there is a breakdown of what we will spend the money raised on).
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Other ways to support us..
If you can't donate money there are plenty of other ways you can support the project.
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We need more volunteers, materials and ideally a space to work from.
You can scroll down to the bottom for details on ways to support us.
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How it began...
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The project began at the Calthorpe Community Garden during the Winter lockdown of 2020, as a way for people who were unable to visit in person to feel connected with each other.
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Known as ‘The Calthorpe’, the garden is a much loved hub in London's Bloomsbury district.
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Those who visit, volunteer and work there feel a very strong attachment to the place, and each other.
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Community members who, like so many, dearly missed being together worked on their flags over those tough Winter months.
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Every one was sewn with love and every one tells its own story.
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Together, they made for a beautiful display of unity and strength.
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As the world began to open back up again in the Spring of 2021, their hands and hearts were then brought together to hang in the garden.
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Neighbouring communities then began working on their own giant bunting chains.
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In the Summer of 2021, children and young people at nearby Corams Fields started work on their chain.
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And in the Autumn, children and young people at Holborn Community Association created beautiful chains of their own.
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As another wave of the pandemic hit in the Winter, women facing homelessness at The Sanctuary started work on their flags.
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The project was then put on pause for a year.
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Then, in the Spring of 2023 , a group of Afghan women were inspired by the Calthorpe's beautiful chain and decided to make one of their own.
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The women had recently arrived from Afghanistan and were being temporarily housed in local hotels.
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Supported by the women's charity Hopskotch, they worked in their flags at the Calthorpe and then continued the work in their hotels.
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The women brought the project back to life, creating an amazing chain which was proudly displayed at the British Museum in the Summer 2023.
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That Autumn, the project came back to its roots to start a new chain at the Calthorpe as a part of the River of Hope festival, bringing new hope and sewing seeds for new connections and opportunities.
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And now, we are excited to be working on plans for the chains created over the Winter and Spring...with plans afoot for more chains in the area - and beyond!
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