East Marsh United
Creating visibility, confidence and momentum for a grassroots community determined to change its neighbourhood.
The challenge we faced
East Marsh United is a resident-led community organisation based in the East Marsh of Grimsby – one of the most economically deprived wards in the UK. Founded in 2017 by neighbours and volunteers, the group exists to improve life on the East Marsh through housing, community action, creativity, and environmental renewal.
They started with a simple but ambitious goal: to make their area a better place to live. To achieve that, they needed visibility, credibility, and tools that would help them be taken seriously by funders, partners, and the media – without losing the authenticity of a grassroots movement. This required a new brand and a website that could act as a central communications hub, tell their story clearly, and reflect both the realities of the area and the optimism driving the work.
Working closely with designer Natalie Morton and developer John Puddephatt of Let’s Dance, we helped East Marsh United with their brand strategy, visual identity, website and content, as well as an explainer animation and ongoing communications support across multiple projects.
How we helped them
• Developed a clear positioning and set of brand values rooted in collective action, pride, and hope.
• Created a bold, DIY visual identity inspired by punk aesthetics – bringing colour and light into spaces often defined by negativity.
• Anchored messaging around bold collective statements, consistently starting with “We” to reinforce shared ownership and voice.
• Built a website and content structure that worked as both a funding tool and a community-facing platform.
• Wrote accessible, plain-English content that could be understood by everyone, alongside specific messaging aimed at funders and journalists.
• Produced an explainer animation – including scripting, storyboarding and editing – to clearly communicate their mission and impact.
• Provided ongoing communications support, including press releases, blog posts and landing pages for specific initiatives.
The impact we made
With ongoing support over a number of years, we’ve helped East Marsh United with some of their greatest achievements, including £500,000 of investment raised through a successful community share offer, which was used to turn 16 (and counting) abandoned properties into “forever homes” with the organisation acting as ethical, community landlords.
We also promoted several exciting initiatives, such as when 30 trees were planted in the local park as part of greening and renewal work. With over 300 residents actively involved in shaping their local Community Plan, they’ve seen significant growth in staff and volunteers. This reflects the increased confidence, momentum and trust people have in them, as their incredible impact becomes more and more visible.
What they said
Really appreciate your guidance, hard work and creative skill. Your help has been invaluable over the years, and we know we can always rely on you to make things look and sound beautiful, while also remaining strategically sound and true to our mission. Thanks for everything. Love and light x