Decorate your doors, fancify your fences, and make your gardens glow – that’s the call from Barking and Dagenham Council this summer. 

 

The council is urging residents to help brighten up the borough, with special prizes up for grabs for the best and brightest dressed buildings and gardens. 

 

The colourful drive comes ahead of the start of the council’s annual Summer of Festivals programme, which offers a host of free entertainment for people to enjoy.

We’re asking you all to think bold and think bright. Let’s all have a bit of light-hearted entertainment and produce some colourful creations for everyone to enjoy.

Residents, schools, care homes and businesses are all being urged to get involved and help bring a bit of pizzazz to Barking and Dagenham.

 

Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, said: “We have all been through some tough times over the last year and a bit, so this is about having some fun, getting the community involved and helping brighten up our borough.

 

“We’re asking you all to think bold and think bright. Let’s all have a bit of light-hearted entertainment and produce some colourful creations for everyone to enjoy.”

 

Specially designed activity packs, created by local artists Grace and Poppy from Grape Arts and Sarina Mantle (Wild Suga) supported by the White House, are available to download for free from www.lbbd.gov.uk/brightentheborough. 

 

To be in with a chance of winning a prize, residents should submit photos and videos of their creations to summeroffestivals@lbbd.gov.uk by Saturday, 10 July. 

 

The brighten up the borough campaign is running between Friday 18 June and Tuesday, 31 August.