Shine a Light on Aylesham

January – March 2026

Helping to shape the Shine a Light Festival at Aylesham Community Trust, Young Cultural Changemakers from EKC Aylesham worked alongside artist Sam Giles to create bold, large‑scale lanterns. The Trust is a vital community space in the village and has strong connections to Aylesham’s mining heritage, which became a key source of inspiration for the project. 

Young people led the design and making of the lanterns from start to finish, drawing ideas from Aylesham’s history and reimagining them through light, colour and scale. Through the process, they developed hands‑on creative skills including lantern making, large‑scale construction and spray painting, while finding ways to embed local stories and identity into their work. 

Alongside the making, young people collaborated with artist Jess Dadds to document the project using analogue film which you can view above. They captured both the creative process and the reveal event, gaining experience in alternative photographic techniques and learning how to tell visual stories through a different lens.

The reveal event was well attended and received really positive feedback from audiences and partners. Comments included, ​“This is brilliant – such an important event for our space,” and ​“It’s great to see young people celebrating our history.” Many people spoke about the impact of seeing the glowing lanterns in the space, with one attendee saying, ​“They have made such incredible artworks – it’s powerful to see them here.”

The young people involved reflected proudly on what they had created, sharing thoughts like, ​“It’s so cool to see them all lit up – they look amazing.” Seeing their ideas brought to life in a public space gave a strong sense of achievement and connection to the community. 

As part of the Shine a Light on Aylesham Festival, there were lots of opportunities for people to get creative, including glow‑in‑the‑dark graffiti with Tim Smithen, screen printing with Joao Caridade, tote bag making with Sam Giles, badge making with Aylesham Arts Club, and plenty of conversations about Aylesham, its past and its future. The festival had a great turnout and created a lively, welcoming atmosphere in the village. 

After the festival, the lanterns were shown at Dover at Night 2026 in the Maison Dieu, and are now on display at EKC Dover College, continuing their journey beyond Aylesham.