Have Your Say, Folkestone!

FPAC will co-create short scenes on food poverty and mental health with people who have lived experience for local decision-makers.
About this Event

Have Your Say, Folkestone! is about shifting power, improving wellbeing and creating better policy through lived experience.

Food poverty is not just about lack of food—it drives poor mental health, damages the environment, limits people’s ability to work and traps families in cycles of hardship. Yet the people most affected are rarely involved in shaping the decisions that impact their lives.

This project changes that: Using Legislative Theatre, it places lived experience at the centre of decision-making, enabling communities to directly engage with councillors, MPs and other stakeholders. It turns real stories into practical solutions by allowing decision-makers to test and understand the impact of policy in real time.

The project:

• Strengthens participatory democracy
• Improves policy design through lived insight
• Supports mental wellbeing and community empowerment
• Contributes to longer-term economic resilience

Therefore, there is a shift in power:

From silence → to voice
From consultation → to co-creation
From policy about people → to policy with people

It connects directly to wider priorities—mental health, community resilience, environmental adaptability, economic participation and democratic trust. By addressing food poverty through creative participation, the project positions itself not as an arts activity, but as a system change intervention with measurable social and policy impact.

The problem (why now):
Rising food poverty is deepening mental health challenges and excluding people from decisions that affect their lives.

The gap (what is missing):
Traditional consultations fail to capture lived reality or create meaningful change.

The solution (why this works):
Legislative Theatre turns lived experience into action, enabling communities and decision-makers to co-create real solutions together.

The urgency comes from the fact that this is not abstract—it is happening now, affecting families now, and requiring immediate, practical, participatory responses rather than distant policy discussion.

In short:
If we want better policy outcomes, we must start by listening differently—and acting together.