Luton Marsh Farm’s First Assembly – And What Happened Next
People power in action
Marsh Farm’s first People’s Assembly in Luton was incredible. Inspiring, joyous, deeply moving. Powerful.
More than 150 people gathered at Futures House on a sunny Saturday afternoon in late April. So many that extra tables had to be hastily brought in.
Months of door knocking, flyering and conversations had paid off. Residents, neighbours and local representatives – including the local MP – turned up and sat down together to listen, share ideas, and agree how to act.
The assembly centred on a simple question:
Our Environment. What needs to happen to make our streets cleaner and our community spaces better used by and for Marsh Farm people? How do we make it happen?
The buzz in the room was electric. Expectant. Things had been tried before. But this felt different.
A crucial moment
The assembly comes at in important time.
£20 million has been allocated to the Marsh Farm estate. Decisions about how that money is spent will shape the future of the area.
Spaces like this create a way for residents to have a real say, and help ensure that money is used in ways that reflect what people actually need.
“What can we do?”
At the start of the assembly, one speaker set the tone:
“What this assembly does is to say what can we do, what can you do, what can I do to make Marsh Farm a better place. It says your voice is important. It matters.
It’s not for someone else to fix it. It’s us doing it for us, taking that initiative, that responsibility for our destiny.
We can do it, we will do it, we will make a difference… because of the love and compassion we have for our community here.”That spirit carried through the whole afternoon.
More than a meeting
Around the edges of the assembly, the wider life of Marsh Farm was visible.
Local services and social enterprises sharing their work. Artists displaying their creativity. Soulful music from Luton Urban Radio playing in the foyer. Children from Woodlands Secondary School performing Something Inside So Strong.
The care and creativity in the space made people feel welcome.
It gave the day a distinctive Marsh Farm feel – not just a meeting about problems, but a space shaped by and for the people in it.
Futures House came to life.
Starting with lived experience
Inside the packed room there were sixteen tables of nine people. Nineteen members of the community stepped up to facilitate.
Each person had time to speak, sharing what they see and experience day to day.
Table by table deliberation at Marsh Farm’s first people’s assembly
From there, each table worked together to identify priorities. Those priorities were shared, refined, and voted on. There was clear sense of alignment in the room.
Three collective asks stood out 👉
- Unlock and improve access to our community-owned spaces
- Provide more space and activities for our young people
- Bring back the Marsh Farm market
From assembly to action
By the end of the session, the focus had shifted. Not just what needs to change, but who will take it forward.
Residents signed up to join Assembly Action Groups – small teams forming around each priority, meeting in the weeks ahead to turn discussion into practical steps.
These groups will be promoted across the estate and on social media, inviting more residents to get involved.
The next People’s Assembly will be held in July, giving the action groups and key organisations time to make progress.
The second assembly creates a clear deadline and focus, building on the strong, ‘can do’ spirit to turn resident demands into action.
There’s an expectation now, not just that people will come back, but that something will have moved on when they do.
This is only the beginning
There’s no sense that this first assembly has solved everything. But it has shifted something in how people see what’s possible.
Not waiting for change to come from elsewhere. Not leaving it to someone else. Local people coming together, taking responsibility, and beginning to shape what happens next.
Assembly organiser, Glenn Jenkins is delighted:
“This is what democracy looks like and a clear example of the difference we can make when we come together. The more of us there are, the louder our voice becomes. If we ‘build our community muscles up’ by coming together regularly and organising ourselves at regular peoples assemblies, there are loads of ‘Marsh Farm matters’ we could deal with.”
This assembly is just the start.
NEWSFLASH
And then, just days later, something unexpected happened.
The call to bring back the Marsh Farm market (one of the three priorities agreed in the room) was heard!
The council has responded positively, fully backing plans to bring it back, with work already underway to reinstate the licence.
A first, tangible result of this collective effort and resolve.
Congratulations to MARSH FARM OUTREACH CIC and to all the organisers, facilitators, residents and organisations who took part in Luton Marsh Farm’s first assembly.
We can’t wait to see what happens from here.
>> Download the Marsh Farm People’s Assembly Final Report
Read more:
- Luton, Marsh Farm. It’s time to bring democracy back home by Taj A. on Hyphen Online.
- How Marsh Farm is reclaiming power from the ground up, by Nick Gardham