The Ideas Kitchen is where great ideas become great projects in your community. It’s where local people pitch ideas to their neighbours who vote for the project they’d like to see realised. 

If you have a creative idea that will benefit your community, and you live, work or study in the borough of Waltham Forest, you can submit an idea to the Community Board made up of The Barbican, Bebop Baby, Gnome House, The Mill and x7eaven. The board selects four ideas to be shared at a community dinner held locally in the borough.

The next community dinner will be held on the 30 November. 

Our Ambassadors are incredible people, aged 16+ who are actively engaged with their community and want to bring more opportunities to the people in it. 

By becoming a Barbican Ambassador you will promote the Barbican and the work we develop in east London to diverse community groups, children’s centres, schools, public libraries and community organisations – especially those who haven’t heard of the Barbican before.

The Ambassadors work together to identify potential community partnerships and encourage local engagement with the Barbican, to ensure that everyone can have access to a world class art and learning offer.

We are not currently recruiting Ambassadors but sign up to our Creative Learning newsletter and get information our programmes and opportunities. 

Future Band is a creative ensemble made up of 20–30 young musicians aged 8–14 from across London, led by Guildhall MMus Leadership graduates Natasha Zielazinski and Detta Danford. 

During holiday time the band comes together for 3 or 4 day projects to explore music making; to think, compose, interpret and play. The musical identity of the group reflects the personality and creative voice of every band member, as well as taking inspiration from musicians and artists from all over the globe. Over the past 5 years Future Band have performed at Barbican and beyond, including the Vortex Jazz Club in Dalston, Union Chapel, Walthamstow Garden Party and the Olympic Park.

To find out more about the project, and be in the band, email creative.learning@barbican.org.uk

The Messengers is a band comprised of Masters students at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and people who seek support from St Mungo's Homeless Charity. It is a unique collaborative project between people from very different backgrounds brought together by their love of making music. The band is led by Sigrun Sævarsdóttir-Griffiths, Guy Wood and Ashton Mills and in four years has grown from playing in small community halls to the main stage at Field Day and Walthamstow Garden Party. Recently the group has worked with legendary outsider musician Doug Hream Blunt and is currently recording an album with David Byrne's Luaka Bop Label.