Help Fix The Stokey Stars
The Stoke Newington illuminated stars are starting to fail, and we may not be able to put them up this year. Help us restore them for the future!
The Stars
In 2020, the first lockdown hit and we were unable to work in our studio at the library. We’d just received a big commission to make two huge light artworks for an outdoor show (GLOW and Crystal Garden) and were in a panic. Luckily for us, The Old Church arts venue stepped in to save us. As they were closed to the public, they kindly let us borrow the church, providing us with a big, safe space to work in.
As a thank you, we used up our leftover materials to make an installation for the churchyard. The result was Twinkle, a set of huge, illuminated stars. It had been such a difficult year for everyone, and we really hoped that the sight of them would cheer people up.
What we hadn’t anticipated was how much of a popular fixture they would become in Stoke Newington, and we’ve been asked to put them up again every year since. In 2022 we also made new ones for the top of the tree by the fire station and St Paul’s West Hackney.
What we need
We’ve already had many people ask us about when they will go up this year, but the stars are really showing their age. They’ve taken a fair bit of damage from being outdoors over the winter for years (including one of them getting a savage beating a few years ago). There are now 10 that we look after, but we don't get paid to do this. We’ve kept them going this long with ad hoc repairs and cobbled-together parts, but the custom electronics are starting to fail, and we don’t think that they'll make it through this winter.
If we’re to put them back up and continue showing them, then we really need to do some repairs. In keeping with our reuse ethos, we’ll hang onto as much as we can from the originals, but we need to make new electronics and replace some of the panels.
It’s been a genuine pleasure putting the stars up each year and we love hearing how much people enjoy them. If you can help us out, then together we’ll be able to see them into the future.
Help us restore the Stokey stars for 2026 and beyond!
If we raise extra, then we'll put it towards making something magical for next year…