Marsh Farm, Luton – Humanity Project

Building community power

Marsh Farm is a large housing estate in Luton with a long history of community action, neighbourly support and grassroots organising.

Today, residents, community organisations and local partners are exploring how People’s Assemblies can strengthen community voice, build local power and create new ways for people to shape decisions affecting their neighbourhood.

What started as a listening campaign and a single assembly is growing into an ongoing journey of participation, action and community-led neighbourhood governance.

Assembly Culture in Marsh Farm

From listening to collective action

Marsh Farm is home to a vibrant and resilient community with a long history of people coming together to improve the place where they live.

Like many communities across the UK, Marsh Farm faces challenges. But it is also rich in local leadership, creativity, knowledge and determination. Building on decades of resident-led organising, Marsh Farm Outreach and local partners have been exploring how People’s Assemblies can help communities play a greater role in shaping local priorities and decisions.

Since 2025, residents have been taking part in a cycle of listening, deliberation and action designed to strengthen community voice and neighbourhood decision-making. More than 190 listening conversations took place across the estate, helping to identify the issues that matter most to local people and ensuring the Assembly agenda was shaped by residents themselves.

In 2026, more than 150 residents, community organisations and local representatives came together for Marsh Farm’s first People’s Assembly. Through facilitated discussion and collective decision-making, residents identified three priorities for action:

Better access to community spaces
More support and opportunities for young people
Bringing back the Marsh Farm Market

The Assembly was never intended to be a one-off event. Residents immediately joined Action Groups to take these priorities forward, creating a direct link between participation and action.

The impact was quickly visible. Following the Assembly, local leaders committed to bringing back the Marsh Farm Market, demonstrating how community priorities can influence real decisions and tangible change.

Today, Marsh Farm is continuing to develop an ongoing cycle of listening, assemblies and action. What began as a listening campaign and a single assembly is growing into a longer-term model of community-led neighbourhood governance, rooted in the belief that local people should help shape the future of the place where they live.