From October 2024 to May 2025, Year 5 pupils at Woodberry Down Community Primary School worked with local artist Chloe Cooper, funded and supported by Hackney Council as part of the Woodberry Down Culture Programme, to explore the campaign that saved the two Stoke Newington reservoirs in the 1990s. The East Reservoir is now known as Woodberry Wetlands — a free-to-visit haven for wildlife and people in Hackney.

The students were introduced to the site’s past through a visit from Elaine Gosnell, one of the original Save the Reservoirs, New River and Filter Beds Campaign members. Her stories and exploration of the nature reserve inspired pupils to express their thoughts on the environment and community action through art.

The centrepiece of their work is a striking billboard designed by the pupils, which will be on display on Seven Sisters Road from 5–18 May.

In addition to the billboard, the pupils created four posters, which are being exhibited at Woodberry Wetlands, Woodberry Down Primary School, and The Redmond Community Centre. Each child will also receive a printed copy of the posters to take home and share with their families. A zine featuring the children’s work — including activities to do in nature devised by them and documenting the project’s journey — is being distributed at the school and is available to pick up from the Coal House Café.

This joyful and thought-provoking project connects a new generation with a vital part of Hackney’s environmental history — and shows how art and activism can come together to recover our lost nature for the future.