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Bringing art to social housing estates

Lloyds Banking Group and Art For Estates have teamed up to create community-led art projects in social housing communities.

Lloyds Banking Group is committed to helping the UK’s social housing sector. We’ve provided over £22 billion in new finance* to the sector since 2018, supporting over 320 housing associations across the UK to help create stronger futures for communities.

Our collaboration with Global Street Art’s Art For Estates programme stems from this long-term commitment. It’s a community-led initiative that brings bold, large-scale art to the heart of social housing estates.

Working hand-in-hand with Global Street Art, local communities and local artists, each mural celebrates the stories, pride and identity rooted in these neighbourhoods. Transforming everyday spaces into vibrant landmarks that residents can feel ownership of and draw inspiration from.

*Through commercial lending and deal facilitation

Oskar with a K: ‘Hope for Cheetham’

Galsworthy Ave, Manchester

A large, brightly coloured mural painted across the side of a brick building, featuring the words “HOPE FOR CHEETHAM” in bold, light-blue lettering. The background is filled with orange, red and teal leaf shapes, with smaller words like “hope,” “grow,” and “love” written inside some leaves. Houses and rooftops are visible behind the building.
A section of the mural showing a brick wall on the left and turquoise-painted wall on the right. In orange hand-painted text, the words “Workshop Participants:” are followed by a list of names: Plamedie, Paul, Tanzila, Mia, Heaven, Grace, Muhammad, Faith, Keisha, Natanya, Irevine, Pauline, and Sydney. Bright orange and yellow leaf shapes decorate the background.

The creative process

This mural was brought to life through a series of fun, collaborative workshops led by Global Street Art, involving local school children, community leaders, residents and the mural site owner. Together, they chose words like “Love,” “Uplift,” and “Creative”, expressions that capture the true character of Cheetham, which artist Oskar with a K used as inspiration.

Young people from Hope for Cheetham, a community-led five-year youth programme, played a central role in shaping the final design. The programme unites residents, youth clubs, schools, non-profits and local partners around a shared goal: to help young people feel supported, valued and hopeful about their future.

During an engagement session with Oskar, they chose themes of nature and positivity, inspiring the affirmations that flow from the centre of the mural like growing leaves behind the words “Hope for Cheetham.”

The result is a bold, joyful landmark. The mural is a celebration of community spirit and a reminder of what can happen when people come together to create something meaningful.

Oskar with a K: About the artist

Oskar with a K is a Manchester-based muralist and workshop leader who began creating large-scale work in his teens. His background in graffiti blended with his formal graphic design training results in what he describes as ‘graphic design unhindered by scale.’

Oskar was the perfect artist for the Hope for Cheetham project, with strong local roots and a passion for putting the community at the heart of the creative process.

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