September 2025 Newsletter – What a Summer! And what’s on this Autumn…

What a fun summer it has been! We’ve had a fantastic time putting on a whole host of amazing community events, providing you with new arts and cultural experiences right on your doorstep.

From The Myths of the Marshes with Teatro Vivo, Kids Business from Hunt and Darton, Thurrock Pride, the Afro Food Festival and the Big Lunches with community partners across the borough, we’ve loved seeing you enjoy the events and get involved.

More recently, at the start of this month, we attended the Orsett Show and enjoyed its great atmosphere. Huge thanks to everyone who visited our stand, participated in performances of ARCADE from Casson & Friends and Applause Rural Touring – the finale of their Let’s Play THURROCK! project – or helped to decorate our giant mural created by Up Against The Wall.

It was also great for us to spend the day with the Port of Tilbury, the main sponsor of the event and a constant supporter of our work at Start Thurrock. Learn more about our partnership.

If you joined in or attended any of our events over the summer, we’d love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts and tell us how we can improve our events to make them even better for you in future.

Complete our Audience and Participation survey

Start your celebrations for Black History Month

Grandad Anansi: An uplifting tale of love, courage and letting go.

Abi and her Grandad tell each other Anansi folktales. As they plant memories, they share secrets and develop a bond that nothing can break. Grandad is as smart and mischievous as the wily Anansi legend. Can he find a way to tell his granddaughter about his plans to return to Jamaica, his beloved homeland?

We are working in partnership with the Thameside Theatre to bring you

this brilliant production written by award-winning children’s author Elayne Ogbeta. The event is designed for children aged 4-9 years, but all are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult, but take advantage of our promo code for free parent and carer tickets.

Book your seats now to see the show on 22nd October at Thameside Theatre, Grays, at 4.30pm. Tickets are £5 each. Parents and carers go free with this code: parentsga

The performance will be BSL interpreted, allowing more people to enjoy the show.

Start Thurrock has commissioned two performances of Grandad Anansi, which is a Half Moon and Z-arts co-production touring the UK celebrating Black History Month. The first show is at 1.30pm and will be free to organised school and community groups. Get in touch via contact@startthurrock.org for more information or to arrange a schools booking.

Book your tickets here.

Happy 1 year anniversary to the Purfleet Pantry!

We were so pleased to share in the celebrations that recognised the amazing work of the Purfleet Pantry volunteers in supporting the local community over the past 12 months.

It’s a project we are proud to continue to support, after playing a small part in the launch back in 2024 with a beautifully designed and co-created mural.

And very soon we will have some exciting news to share with you about a new project we have been working on behind the scenes with the pantry – watch this space!

Spooky creativity at Coalhouse Fort

As Halloween approaches next month, we’ll be getting spooky at Coalhouse Fort with artist Laura Trevail.

Laura will bring together people who love, seek out, or stumble upon Coalhouse Fort in the creation and sharing of ghost stories, while exploring the Fort’s heritage, its natural history and personal stories together.

Can you creep us out? Laura is collecting entries for the Coalhouse Fort Ghost Story Competition and is looking for original short ghost stories from amateur writers of ANY age or experience – they just have to be suitable for reading aloud.

Entries will be judged on spookiness, ghostly characters, world building, relevance to the Fort and emotional ‘feels’. Winning entries will be professionally read and recorded as part of Laura’s commission at the Fort.

Never written a ghost story before and fancy trying it out? Laura will be running workshops during October. Contact laura@lhtrevail.com for more information.

For full competition details and to enter, click the link below. Deadline for submissions is Halloween – 31st October.

Enter the Ghost Story Competition!

Be part of our Green Light 2026 programme

Calling all Thurrock creatives! Come and be a part of Green Light – our exciting taster programme returning in February 2026.

Now in its third year, Green Light gives people in our communities the chance to give something new a go – can you help us?

We are looking for local artists to put on creative activities across the borough and help residents express themselves in new ways.

If you’ve got a creative activity that’s ready to go, and people can attend for free, we’d love to hear from you! Please submit your ideas to us by Friday 31st October.

See all details about getting involved

Start to get funding for your creative ideas

Got an idea for an event, project, workshop or performance?

Applications for our creative community support programme are open again. If you have an idea to help Thurrock residents get creative and try something new please get in touch with us and apply for Creative Community Support.

Whatever it is, from painting a mural to a family festival, we can work with you to make it happen. And not just financially – our team will be on hand to help you with the logistics around delivering your idea.

To apply, complete our online form by clicking below. If you would prefer a different format to apply, please contact info@startthurrock.org. Deadline for the next round of funding is Oct 31st, so act fast!

We can’t wait to receive your ideas – let your imagination run wild! 

Apply now for our Creative Community Support programme.

Start being the first to know

Want to be the first to know about our latest events and unique activities?

Then sign up to become one of our Super Fans and be at the heart of everything happening with Start Thurrock!

Joining is free and we would love you to have your say on all the brilliant creative activities across our area. Don’t miss out – get involved and stay ahead of the crowd!

Sign up to become a Super Fan!