Over the summer, more than 250 young people across St Neots picked up spray cans and paintbrushes to answer a simple question: what does this town mean to you? The result is ‘This Is Our Town Too’, a youth-led graffiti and canvas art project now on display at St Neots Museum.

The project was led by St Neots Town Council’s Youth Engagement team, working alongside St Neots Museum, Places for People and Wintringham, with graffiti artist Kilo of Splash & Dash Creations on hand to guide participants and turn ideas into finished pieces.

Rather than one single event, the project ran as a series of drop-in sessions through early August, taking the art-making out into the places young people already spend time: Kings Road Park, the Duck Lane MUGA, Wintringham School Plaza and St Neots Market Square. Food trucks, an ice cream van and activities from other local organisations turned each session into something of a pop-up community event in its own right.

The idea behind the project is a straightforward one: young people are often talked about rather than talked to when it comes to shaping their town, and can end up feeling like an afterthought in it. Giving them a wall, a canvas and a can of paint flips that around, letting them say directly what St Neots means to them and stake a visible claim to its public spaces.

Youth engagement organiser Hannah Bell, who helped drive the project, has spoken about how many young people say they feel overlooked, and how initiatives like this are a chance to show that they’re valued, active members of the community rather than bystanders in it.

The individual canvases have been brought together into a mosaic-style display, alongside the larger neighbourhood pieces, in an exhibition at St Neots Museum running until 5 September 2026. It’s a rare chance to see the town through the eyes of the people who’ll be shaping its next chapter, and well worth a visit while it’s still up.