River of Hope

River of Hope is an arts-based learning project that uses environmental themes and creative arts practice to help young people express their concerns about the climate crisis. This Norfolk strand of the project was a partnership between Thames Festival Trust and Norfolk & Norwich Festival.

In the first year of the project we worked with ten primary schools in King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth and, in the second year, this work continued alongside an additional primary school in Thetford and five secondary schools from Norwich and the surrounding areas.

River of Hope gave young people the opportunity to create original artworks under the guidance of inspirational artist Ali Atkins. Through the project young people were able to reflect on their experience of being immersed in nature; discuss their concerns about climate change and the positive changes they would like to make; and to decide how they would like to communicate their wishes and concerns using art as their medium. Participating secondary schools also worked alongside writer Lewis Buxton to create poems in response to the themes of the project.

The project supported school staff by giving them the skills and confidence to apply arts-based learning to their teaching practice. Throughout the process they participated in a number of CPD sessions and were given access to a host of online resources allowing them to include climate change topics within their curriculum.

In partnership with the British Council and Ville de Rouen, the project was mirrored in France and each of the schools from the UK were partnered with a school in Normandy, enabling them to bring an international dimension to the work and to their teaching of environmental themes.

River of Hope artworks were exhibited at The Forum as part of Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2025 and an online gallery of all of the artworks that were created and a selection of student’s poems can be found here: Thames Festival Trust | River of Hope: Norfolk

‘We hope that through this project participants will be inspired by the potential of art in their lives and that it will give them a glimpse of how powerful art can be in delivering important messages about climate change.’ – Kate Forde, Thames Festival Trust’s Head of Education and Engagement

‘Wow! Thanks for such an inspirational experience for our Year 8 students. The amount of effort and passion that they put into their poems clearly demonstrated their enthusiasm for the day.’ – Teacher, Notre Dame High School

‘I’ve enjoyed the children’s inspiration and them just being in awe of the different art techniques that they’ve used. The looks on their faces have just been amazing.’ – Teacher, Walpole Cross Keys Primary School

Artist

Ali Atkins & Lewis Buxton

Locations

Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn, Thetford, Aylsham and Norwich

Partners

Thames Festival Trust, Historic England, British Council, Norfolk Rivers Trust and Ville de Rouen

Participants

Over 1200 KS2 and KS3 pupils and 64 teachers from:

Great Yarmouth: Cobholm Primary Academy, Edward Worlledge Ormiston Academy, Southtown Primary School, St. Nicholas Priory Primary School
Kings Lynn: Clenchwarton Primary School, Gaywood Primary School, Heacham Junior School, Snettisham Primary School, Walpole Cross Keys Primary School, West Lynn Primary School
Thetford: Drake Primary School
Aylsham: Aylsham High School
Norwich: Notre Dame High School, Ormiston Victory Academy, Taverham High School, Thorpe St. Andrew High School

In partnership with Thames Festival Trust.

Supported by Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, British Council and Ville de Rouen.

The programme in Norfolk is supported by the Ellerdale Trust, the Bacon Charitable Trust, the Arts Society Norwich, Historic England, Norfolk Rivers Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

With thanks to Frostbite Sailing Club.