Ideas Test

Cut the beat and make some noise 🎶 🎤 Big love to world champion beatboxer Rupert Oldridge @thebass6 who ran our beatbox workshops at Luton Primary and Phoenix Primary School, and who helped shape and deliver our beatbox litter picks during the HEARD creative health project. Rupert says, “Any sound is a good sound.” So what’s yours? Give beatboxing a go at home and surprise yourself 👉 .uk/news/rupert-oldridge 🔗 in bio!

⏰ Deadline is fast approaching - 18th May 2026, 12pm. Don't miss your opportunity to become part of the team! We are hiring a full-time Audience Engagement Officer. We’re looking for someone passionate about community engagement to help build and strengthen relationships across Medway and Swale. In this role, you’ll connect with local audiences, carry out research to reach new communities, and collaborate with our team to deliver an inclusive and inspiring cultural programme. For a full job description and details on how to apply, head to our website - .uk/news/audienceengagementofficer - link in bio 👆 Deadline for application 📅 Monday 18th May, 12pm. Please share and tag anyone who may be interested! #IdeasTest #WeAreHiring #MedwayJobs #MedwayArtsJob #AudienceEngagementOfficer

📣 Deadline fast approaching- 30th April 2026 Artist Ben Judd invites YOU to take part in a rare opportunity to create performances, talks, or workshops, using a camera obscura projection on the historic Thames sailing barge Raybel in June and July. You don’t have to be an artist, just pitch an idea for creatively using the camera obscura projection on the barge. This is your chance to stage a unique, one-off event for a small audience that uses the boat and camera obscura as central to the experience. Explore themes of closeness and distance, belonging and not belonging, inclusion and exclusion through your creative response. Raybel’s Journey Dates: 📍 24–25 June – Queenborough 📍 27–28 June – Canvey 📍 30 June–1 July – Thorpe Bay 📍 3–6 July – Burnham 📍 8–11 July – Whitstable 📍 13–14 July – Oare Creek Apply via link in bio 👆 Please kindly direct all questions to [email protected]. Find out more about Ben - link in bio 👆

Exciting opportunity - Sharing on before of @officialzsl Artist Residency- 10 month residency with Transforming the Thames The purpose of this residency will be to inspire and engage coastal communities in the Greater Thames Estuary, celebrating its wildlife, habitats and the plans for ecological recovery. Applications close Thursday, 30 April 2026, 12 noon. For further details head to

With the Medway and Brompton community, we gathered around our cauldron to collaboratively concoct a series of creative Halloween Trails! ⚗️🧪🧙🏼 The Brompton Creative Health project was an initiative designed to boost community engagement and local wellbeing. A total of 8 monthly meet-ups between nine local residents were held in a local café in Brompton, The group’s meetings steered towards the creation of an immersive Halloween trail, a revival of a similar community tradition that had stopped approximately fifteen years prior. This trail would wind its way around the local community’s businesses and hubs, transforming familiar haunts in Brompton into ACTUAL haunts, which kids and parents would need to investigate to meet with and learn about the ghosts of Medway’s past whose stories were collected through interviews with Brompton locals. The creepy cast included the Brompton Witch Mildred Wright from 1651, Hetty the (rowdy) landlady of the 1800s, and Tom Trendsetter, a Guinness World Record winning hairdresser from the 80s. Ahead of the trail, home-made halloween costume making workshops lead by Intra Arts' (@intra_arts ) Xtina Lamb (@xtinalamb ), encouraging the community to get creative and develop new skills whilst championing recycling and sustainability. Our cast of ghosts and guides were played by local Kent-based actors 🎭👻🕵️ The trail’s ghost stories and book ‘The Vanishing’ was written by local writer, Kat Peglar (@katkatmusic ) ✍️💭 And, the artwork for the ‘Boo Book’, which was given to the young ghost hunters on their travels for keeps, and ‘The Vanishing’ book was illustrated by Brompton-based artist, Tukru Hassien (@kissakerho ) 🖼️🎨 The final evaluation session with the Brompton Halloween team revealed significant satisfaction and pride in their achievements. Our local community co-creators were clearly proud of their involvement and were extremely pleased with the positive reception from the wider community. Read our full Impact Report here 👇 /resources/ideas-test-brompton-halloween-creative-health-project/

📣 We Are Hiring!! Ideas Test are excited to announce that we are hiring. Join our team as a full-time Audience Engagement Officer. We’re looking for someone passionate about community engagement to help build and strengthen relationships across Medway and Swale. In this role, you’ll connect with local audiences, carry out research to reach new communities, and collaborate with our team to deliver an inclusive and inspiring cultural programme. For a full job description and details on how to apply, head to our website - .uk/news/audienceengagementofficer - link in bio 👆 Deadline for application 📅 Monday 18th May, 12pm. Please share and tag anyone who may be interested! #IdeasTest #WeAreHiring #MedwayJobs #MedwayArtsJob #AudienceEngagementOfficer

Artist Ben Judd invites artists from the Essex and Kent coastal regions to take part in a rare opportunity to create new work, performances, talks, or workshops, using a camera obscura projection on the historic Thames sailing barge Raybel in June and July 2026. This is your chance to stage a unique, one-off event for a small audience that uses the boat and camera obscura as central to the experience. Explore themes of closeness and distance, belonging and not belonging, inclusion and exclusion through your creative response. Raybel’s Journey Dates: 📍 24–25 June – Queenborough 📍 27–28 June – Canvey 📍 30 June–1 July – Thorpe Bay 📍 3–6 July – Burnham 📍 8–11 July – Whitstable 📍 13–14 July – Oare Creek 🕓 Application deadline: April 30, 2026 Apply via link in bio 👆 Please kindly direct any questions to [email protected]. Find out more about Ben - link in bio 👆

From Newcomen to Watt to the steam locomotive, one invention sparks the next, building an unstoppable chain of industry, motion, and change. This month’s writing from Ideas Test and Sittingbourne Steam Railway Writer-in-Residence Dan Thompson @danthompson33 is a poem extract about steam and coal. Read "Dead Plants" 👉 .uk/dead-plants-a-poem-about-steam-and-coal This is a glimpse of a larger piece of work. The full version is still being written. It’s planned to accompany the journey between Sittingbourne and Kemsley Down and designed to be performed on the railway. More details to follow.

From hip hop dance to stunt bikes, ‘Gather & Groove’ brought the community together for two vibrant days of art, music, dance, and movement. Working alongside Lordswood Dance Centre, @moving_memory , Medway Libraries, and @mhs_homes , we helped create space for people to slow down, connect, and express themselves. What did we discover? Lordswood is full of creativity. We were inspired to see residents getting involved in so many different ways, and we witnessed the positive impact first-hand, from increased community spirit to a real sense of pride and motivation. Read the full impact report on our website 👉 .uk/projects/previous-projects/gather-groove

Sharing on behalf of our friends @sandklr Take a look at the incredible events planned for the year. 🚂 🎉 ℹ️

Sharing on behalf of our friends @photoworks_uk Join them at @sunpierhouse for Funding Your Work - A Guide for Photographers, a special session led by artist @natasha.caruana If you’ve ever felt like funding is “for other people,” or you’re unsure how to turn an idea into an application, this session is for you. Together we’ll unpack the fears that hold many photographers back, from rejection to feeling “not established enough”, and look at practical ways to begin funding your work. You’ll leave with: • A clearer understanding of what funding is (and isn’t) • Practical starting points for your own projects • The confidence to take the first small steps rather than waiting until you feel “ready” The ticket includes a 2-hour talk plus one hot or cold soft drink from the Sun Pier House café. Natasha Caruana is a British artist working across photography, moving image, installation and drawing. She is co-founder of @workshowgrow an international platform supporting creatives to build sustainable practices and secure funding. Her work has been exhibited internationally and she is also a Trustee of @photoworks_uk 📍 Sun Pier House 🎟️ Link in bio to book @photoworks_uk Part of the @photoworks_uk Photography Champions programme, supporting creative communities across England. __ #Photoworks #Photoworks.lab #WorkShowGrow #SunPierHouse

I’ve had a wonderful few weeks designing, constructing and decorating a booth for local fortune teller, Medway’s Mystic - Mel the Magnificent! He wowed the crowds at the recent Luton Lights finale. What a fantastic turn out and a spectacular evening. Thanks to @medwayplaylabcic for such a great concept and as always @ideas.test for the opportunities you bring to the local community! Luton Lights ’26 was produced by @ideas.test