The Together Fence High Lane Playground-Your Voice Your Town

The Together Fence is a collaborative public art project at High Lane Playground, near Mayfield Primary School, delivered between June and September 2026. Bringing together school children, parents/carers and neighbours, the project aimed to transform the playground fence into a colourful celebration of Hanwell’s diversity.

Around 110 children created self-portraits on individual picket fence boards, with support from their families and volunteer artists. We hosted six painting sessions near the playground: two large sessions attended by 35 and 60 children respectively, two quieter sessions for children who may feel overwhelmed in busy settings, and two catch-up sessions for those who wanted to finish their paintings or had missed earlier opportunities. Everyone who plays in or cares about the playground was invited to participate, with invitations shared through school and neighbourhood WhatsApp groups and posters displayed in the playground. Each session began with open conversations about skin colour, identity and self-expression, the richness of diversity and the importance of inclusion.

Beyond creating artwork, the project brought together parents and carers who generously donated equipment and volunteered their time to cut, sand, prime and paint the fence panels, ensuring they were durable and weatherproof. We are grateful to the council playground teams and YVYT team for their advice on safety requirements and approval of the materials and installation method, as well as to the school for providing storage and preparation space.

Once the children’s paintings were complete, our volunteer artists added final touches to help ensure representation across different backgrounds and abilities. With the help of some little volunteers, we also painted the reverse sides of the panels to bring colour into the playground. Our volunteer parent/builder then installed the finished panels along the fence.

The children’s excitement and the community’s pride and sense of ownership made all the effort worthwhile. Neighbours came out to admire the transformation, sparking many lovely conversations. Today, children proudly show each other their paintings, parents stop to admire the artwork, and local families regularly share their appreciation. We have also seen encouraging responses on social media.

While the finished fence is beautiful, we believe the process was even more meaningful: bringing together more than 200 people through a shared creative effort. It was not always easy and required considerably more time and commitment than anticipated, but every moment was worth it.

Our aim was to reimagine the playground fence as a meaningful artistic representation of Hanwell’s diversity. We hope it will remain a colourful, lasting legacy of what a community can achieve when it comes together.

About Let’s Talk About This (LTAT)

Envisioned and led by Let’s Talk About This (LTAT), a parent/carer-led support group, the project reflects our aim at helping families have age-appropriate conversations about important social topics, including racism, ethnicity, gender, disability, neurodivergence, consent, immigration, mental health, environmental sustainability and social justice.

Since 2022, we host conversation circles, seasonal book-swap picnics and a community book-exchange network. Our shared collection features books that promote inclusion and diversity through their themes, characters, settings and authors.