River of Hope
Activate's Role: Regional Producer
- Location: 7 UK regions: Leeds, Newham (London), Tees Valley, Norfolk, Dorset and Devon & Cornwall, and also in France (Rouen) and Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Arba Minch).
- Date: 2023-2026. In Dorset - September 2025 in Christchurch (Inside Out Dorset)
- Partners: In partnership with Thames Festival Trust. Supported by Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and British Council.
About River of Hope
The River of Hope programme developed by Thames Festival Trust connected local artists with secondary schools across five regions in England, with the aim to increase knowledge and understanding of climate change issues, sustainability and develop new skills in art and creativity.
River of Hope gave young people the amazing opportunity to engage in a river visit and create artworks under the guidance of inspirational professional artists. The project benefitted teachers by providing them with artist professional development and access to a host of online resources aimed at encouraging them to include climate change topics within their curriculum teaching.
Between 2023 to 2026, the River of Hope project was delivered in seven UK regions: Leeds, Newham (London), Tees Valley, Norfolk, Dorset and Devon & Cornwall, and also in France (Rouen) and Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Arba Minch).
River of Hope in Dorset
In June and July 2025 students from 6 secondary schools in Dorset and Hampshire took part in river visits, poetry sessions and printmaking workshops. The river visits were led by local poet Matt West and were followed by printmaking workshops with Dorset-based artist Heidi Steller. Some groups were also joined by Hannah Divine from Dorset Wildlife Trust, sharing knowledge and expertise on the river conditions and climate concerns.
The result was 20 large inspiring flags featuring words from poems the participants had written. These were then exhibited on Christchurch Quay as part of Activate’s Inside Out Dorset festival in September 2025.
As part of the national project, film makers were also commissioned to record the work. In Dorset, Pageant Productions filmed the river visits and workshops and created beautiful films capturing the enthusiasm of the participants and the energy of the artists.
The schools that took part:
- Gillingham School
- Queen Elizabeth’s School, Wimborne
- Twynham School with The Grange School
- Ringwood School
- The Burgate School
About Heidi Steller, Artist
Heidi trained at Nottingham Trent University as a Theatre Designer and has an MA in printmaking from Camberwell College of Arts. As a theatre designer she has worked on both small- and large-scale performance productions for the last 20 years. Heidi specialises in Outdoor Theatre, Celebratory Arts and Scenic Art. Her work includes large-scale sculptural pieces with outdoor arts company ‘Emergency Exit Arts’ for events such as the Thames Festival in London and as a designer and collaborator for outdoor theatre piece ‘Cloudscapes’ with Dorset based theatre company ‘Gobbledegook Theatre’. Heidi runs art workshops in schools and community settings as well as working at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) as a visiting tutor. At AUB she teaches Performance Design, drawing, model making, festival sculpture and scenic art. She also loves to collaborate with dance, exploring drawing and movement.
About Matt West, Poet
Matt West is a poet, writer, educator and facilitator based in Southampton. Matt graduated from University of Southampton’s Creative Writing MA programme where he studied Modern poetics and produced two poetry chapbooks, Button Holes and Object to This. Matt is founding director of ArtfulScribe and artistic director/lead facilitator of the Archimedes Screw project, supported by Apples and Snakes and Arts Council England. He has experience of working across age groups including schools and elders and will happily engage and devise workshops according to specification. In 2013, Matt was appointed as Southampton’s first Poet Laureate for Children.
"It's quite fun to think that it's not just one school doing it, and there's loads of people putting it together."
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enjoyed participation overall
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valued environmental trips and poetry sessions
River of Hope film
River of Hope gallery
Partners and Funders
River of Hope was delivered in partnership with Thames Festival Trust. Supported by Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and British Council.
The programme in Dorset was supported by Christchurch BID, Culture in Common, part of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme (National Lottery), Christchurch Charitable Trust and Arts University Bournemouth.