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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

Betarok75: 'The Fire Horse'

Grenville Street South, Liverpool

Colourful mural of a flowing red horse painted on a bright blue wall on Grenville Street South, Liverpool, blending Chinese symbols and myth-inspired imagery.
Colourful mural of a flowing red horse painted on a bright blue wall on Grenville Street South, Liverpool, blending Chinese symbols and myth-inspired imagery.

The creative process

Shaped hand-in-hand with the community, The Fire Horse mural breathes fresh colour and energy into Liverpool’s Chinatown. The wall on Grenville Street sits right in the heart of Europe’s oldest Chinese community, making it the perfect place to celebrate culture, heritage and local pride.

To bring the mural to life, Global Street Art teamed up with Pagoda Arts and invited residents of all ages to get involved. Together with artist Betarok75, the community explored ideas that connected their stories with the upcoming Year of the Fire Horse. They played with symbols, colour palettes and Chinese characters, including the powerful ancient character 𠅜, made up of three dragons, and 福 (Fú), meaning good fortune. As the concept took shape, the artists refined the design and added photorealistic touches, before the community cast their final vote on the colours.

The result? A bold, uplifting mural that blends tradition, creativity and the voices of the people who call Chinatown home.

Betarok75: About the artist

Liverpool-based street artist Betarok75 has been brightening the city’s walls since 1995, through community-driven murals. His work celebrates culture, identity and the stories that bring people together.

For The Fire Horse, he collaborated with Elle Koziupa, a rising UK street artist known for her large, expressive murals and her work with Global Street Art since joining as an apprentice in 2022. Together, they’ve created a piece that’s as meaningful as it is striking.

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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