The Loop in Action: What Happens When You Give Plastic to Year 6?

Last week marked the end of a truly joyful series of creative circular economy workshops delivered by Looply with the brilliant Year 6 students at Gainsborough Primary School.

This wasn’t “our” project in the usual sense. It was Looply’s. Looply is a community-rooted initiative we’re proud to support through The Loop. But it’s a perfect example of what we’re trying to build at HWFI CDT: a neighbourhood where the connections between people, places and purpose become visible.

The opportunity came about through one of those connections. In the simplest possible way. Gainsborough Primary School’s Executive Headteacher, Jenna Clark, sits on our board and is a true believer in the value of local civic infrastructure supporting everyday people’s lives. We helped introduce Looply to the school, and the rest took off from there.

The students got stuck into turning soft plastic waste into colourful, upcycled bunting — which will now decorate their end-of-year celebrations. It’s a small thing, but it holds real meaning: creativity, reuse, collaboration, pride. This is what the circular economy feels like when it's alive on the ground.

What’s happening here is simple, but it matters:

→ Local makers like Looply bring energy and skill
→ Trusted relationships unlock doors — in this case, with a local school
→ Young people get direct exposure to new ideas, and new futures
→ A neighbourhood’s social and environmental imagination expands, just a little more

We say we want to make more citizen builders. This is how it happens. One spark at a time.

Huge love to Looply for making The Loop feel more alive every day.