Imagine a table where everyone is welcome.
A table where stories are shared, strangers become neighbours, recipes travel between generations, and conversations begin.
A Place at the Table is a year-long creative programme bringing people across Thurrock together through conversation, creativity and shared experiences to help build that table together.
Across Thurrock, we’ll be inviting people from different communities, backgrounds and generations to explore ideas of home, hope and belonging, creating opportunities to meet neighbours, share stories and build new connections. At a time when division can feel louder than understanding, the project celebrates the everyday acts of care, creativity and communities that bring people together, ensuring everyone has a place at the table.
Together with local residents, community groups and partners, we’ll create a new touring textile artwork: a community picnic set made by and for Thurrock. Through stitching, embroidery, printing and conversation, the picnic set will become a collection of shared words, memories and stories that reflect the people who call Thurrock home.
Designed to travel across the borough, the completed picnic set will be activated at community events in Spring 2027, creating welcoming spaces where people can gather around one table to share food, stories and conversation, continuing discussions around belonging, migration, identity, family and place.
Led by Kinetika Artistic Director Ali Pretty, with artists Sarah Doyle and Lesley Robinson, A Place at the Table builds on Kinetika’s twelve years of creative, community-led work across Thurrock, continuing our commitment to bringing people together through art, participation and shared experiences.
Image: Welcome to the UK Flag, designed by Ali Pretty (Kinetika) in collaboration with Mark Massey, Together Productions and Welcome to the UK, Grays.
Part One: A Place at the Table at The Big Lunch
July – August 2026
This summer, you’ll find Kinetika at The Big Lunch events across Thurrock.
We’ll be inviting visitors to share one word that represents hope, home or belonging. These words will be embroidered onto pieces of cotton while we talk, stitch and reflect together, creating the first pieces of our community picnic set.
Where to find us:
- 23 July – East Tilbury Big Lunch
Gobions Park, Princess Margaret Rd, East Tilbury, RM18 8TN
- 28 July – South Ockendon Big Lunch
Dilkes Park, Fairham Ave, South Ockendon, RM15 5NN
- 5 August – Chadwell Big Lunch
Pyramid Resource Centre, Heath Rd, Grays, RM16 3AP
- 11 August – Corringham Big Lunch
Corringham Town Park, Springhouse Rd, Corringham, SS17 7LF
- 17 August – Blackshots Big LunchImpulse Leisure, King George’s Field, Blackshots Lane, RM16 2LP
How to take part
Simply drop in between 12pm and 4pm and look out for the A Place at the Table gazebo. Everyone is welcome.
Part Two: Creative Workshops
October 2026 – February 2027
This autumn, we’ll continue the conversation through a series of creative workshops with local groups and individuals.
Together we’ll transform the words and stories gathered over the summer into a colourful, handmade picnic set, including bunting, tablecloths, picnic blankets and placemats. Every stitch will represent a contribution from someone in Thurrock, weaving together many different voices into one shared artwork.
The completed picnic set will travel to community events across Thurrock in Spring 2027, where people from different communities will come together to share food, recipes, stories and conversation.
How to take part
Sign up below.
We’d love to hear from community groups, organisations and individuals who would like to get involved.
Part Three: Community Sewing Sessions
February – March 2027
Join our relaxed drop-in sewing and embroidery sessions to help complete the final picnic set.
Whether you’re an experienced stitcher or picking up a needle for the first time, everyone is welcome to contribute to this collective artwork.
A Shared Table
Throughout the project, we’ll listen to and celebrate the stories of the people who make Thurrock what it is today. Together, we’re creating more than a textile artwork. We’re creating opportunities for connection, understanding and belonging, demonstrating how creativity can strengthen communities and inspire conversations that continue long after the making is finished.