The Places That Link Us
A year-long (2025 - 2026) outdoor arts project reaching across the Rushmoor community and the area, inspiring people with the creation of a new community garden, outdoor sculpture and performance, providing opportunities to create and come together outdoors, and increasing awareness of local green spaces.
Co-led by two artists, Barbara Touati-Evans and Judita Vivas, The Places That Link Us is a partnership between the Hampshire Cultural Trust, West End Centre, Hawley Community Garden, and Farnborough Library. It is funded by the Farnborough Airport Community Environment Fund and Pride in Place Grant / UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The artists will explore, with their local communities, how we can connect to our green spaces in more respectful and caring ways.
How do the green spaces help us come together? How can we breathe new life into neglected green spaces? Can we establish green “corridors” that interconnect our green spaces and raise environmental awareness?
JOIN US for FREE, open-to-all, activities and events taking place during the summer and autumn 2025. All the details below.
The project will culminate in the opening of a new community garden at the back of the West End Centre in Aldershot (August-September 2025); a large living sculpture installation built at the Hawley Community Garden, co-created with the participants and made out of natural and found materials (September 2025); an outdoor performance trail which will reconnect Farnborough town centre with the green space by the Library (October 2025); and a public exhibition about the project at the West End Centre (January 2026).
Funded by Farnborough Airport Community Environmental Fund and Pride in Place / UK Shared Prosperity Fund
Hawley Community Garden
May 8 & May 15, 10-1 pm, Garden Crochet at MCP ‘Stich It Don’t Ditch It’, Mayfield Community Centre GU14 8TX.
Come and help us make small baskets for the site-specific living sculpture installation that will be unveiled at the Hawley Community Garden in September. All materials provided, no previous experience required.
June 14, 11-1 pm, Open Day at Hawley Community Garden GU14 8DL. Meet the garden community, explore the garden, take part in a story trail, see who lives in the pond, and get creative decorating the new shed. Free, family-friendly, and open to all.
Book your place by emailing placesthatlinkus@gmail.com
Sept 13, 11 - 3 pm, Harvest Fest at Hawley Community Garden GU14 8DL.
Led by Barbara Touati-Evans, we've created a brand-new sculpture, "In the Shelter of the Sailing Eye", positioned near the main gate - featuring a special crocheted element made with the help of local people at the Mayfield Community Centre and the Hawley Garden community.
Drop by to explore the sculpture and pick up a trail map to discover the creatures that call the garden home. Once you've completed the trail, return to the sculpture for some fun performance activities for all ages. You'll also find us on the green, where we're running a stall with hands-on creative craft activities using natural materials.
This is a free and drop-in event. More details here.
In March-April 2025, Barbara and Judita took up an Artist Residency at the Hawley community garden to explore what needs to grow, what we want growing and how we do it, not only in terms of plants and nourishment but also community cohesion and climate resilience. Find out more about their residency and how it inspired the creative activities below.
Library Green
May 3, 10-3pm, Stall and arts activities at Farnborough Craft Fayre. Drop in to creatively explore the Library Green, contribute to a collective map and make a badge. All materials provided, suitable for ALL.
July 29 & 31, 11am - midday, Creative Picnic on the Green. Outdoor arts event for the whole family! We’ll gather at the Farnborough Library (GU14 7JZ), and then go to the Library Green to enjoy interactive movement activities and decorate the hoardings. There will be a shared picnic afterwards. All materials and refreshments are provided, suitable for ALL.
This is a FREE event, but please book your place using this link!
October 4, 6pm, Site-specific Performance Event at the Library Green GU14 7JZ.
In March-April 2025, Barbara and Judita took up an Artist Residency at the Library Green, the green space between Farnborough Library and Farnborough Skate Park. They creatively explored the history and ecology of the site, who uses and inhabits this space presently, and how we can care for our urban green spaces in the future. Find out more about their residency and how it inspired the creative activities below.
Westy Community Garden
As part of the The Places That Link Us project, the West End Centre in Aldershot, with the help of the Blooming Marvellous community gardening group, is building a brand-new community garden at the back of the building, transforming a currently unused, concrete, urban space into a shared green space, due to be opened in August-September 2025.
Join us at the events below to creatively explore the idea of “green build”, find out more about the new garden and how to get involved.
May 27, 10 am - midday & 2pm - 4pm, a day of family-friendly sensory garden craft & movement workshops at the West End Centre GU11 3JD. Free, but places are limited, so please book using this link to reserve your spot. Any questions, feel free to get in touch via placesthatlinkus@gmail.com
June 7, “Design your garden”, drop in to the West End Centre stall for outdoor arts and crafts during Victoria Day in Aldershot.
July 5, 10-2pm, Interactive Garden Performance & Craft at Eco Explorers Club, by the Wellington Centre entrance on Union Street, Aldershot town centre. We’ll be joining Amanda from Merry-go-Round Storytelling and her cheeky crow puppet, and doing interactive performance and craft activities to explore what lives, moves, paddles, buzzes, and makes beautiful trails in our gardens. Drop in, suitable for ALL.
July 26-27, “Design your garden”, drop in to the West End Centre stall for sensory garden-inspired performance and sound activities at the Picnic & Pop Festival.