Reviving Slough’s Hidden Stream Through Art and Community
At the heart of Salt Hill Park, we’ve transformed a neglected but highly used tunnel underpass into a vibrant tribute to local nature, creativity, and community spirit. Water Lives Here is a Project Sponge initiative designed to reconnect people with the Salt Hill Stream, a vital but hidden waterway flowing beneath our feet.
Led by our Community Action Manager, Aya, this project brought together local residents, the Friends of Salt Hill Park group, the Viva Slough team, and artist Jho to co-create a water themed mural that celebrates the stream’s wildlife, stories, and significance. Through creative workshops, from poetry and drawing to immersive virtual reality, the community helped shape a shared vision for this unique space.
The final mural features native wildflowers, perch, and the graceful little egret, inviting passers-by to imagine themselves within the stream, walking alongside the life it supports. With support from Salt Hill VR’s 3D modelling, and volunteers from Friends of Salt Hill Park, Dulux, Tesco Mobile, and Berkeley Homes, this once neglected tunnel has become a symbol of what’s possible when we come together and care for the places around us.
This project is part of our wider work at Project Sponge, helping to build climate-resilient neighbourhoods through stream restoration work, community rain gardens and introducing natural ways of managing rainwater, like permeable surfaces and planted areas that soak up water (also known as sustainable urban drainage systems, or SuDS). It’s a reminder that even small, overlooked spaces can become powerful starting points for connection with nature, with each other, and with the future of our local environment.
Before & After
