Creative potential often gets stuck behind closed doors, and for many young people in Leicester, Pedestrian is the place that opens them. The arts and education charity launched its Opening Doors campaign to fund a new home in the city, a space where young creatives can build skills and explore music, visual arts, digital media and more. Pedestrian asked local businesses to help sponsor new doors, and in 2025, Herdl answered the call. Some of the team (Dave, Ella, Gareth, and Ged) recently visited the newly opened creative hub to see ‘our’ door in action.
Pedestrian works with young people aged 8 to 25. Many are at risk, socially excluded, or struggling in mainstream education, and the charity uses creative activity to build their confidence, wellbeing and lifelong skills. It works on the belief that timely support and mentoring help anyone reach their potential. Its work falls into three areas. Alternative education gives young people who struggle in school a learning programme with recognised accreditation. Early intervention and community outreach tackle barriers such as geography, poverty and isolation. Progression and training then lead to qualifications and placements in the creative sector, so the creative work becomes a route into a career.
A Former Bank With a New Purpose
Pedestrian now occupies a two-floor building in Leicester city centre that used to be a bank. Downstairs, you’ll find the main creative workspace, meeting rooms, recording studios, and a gallery and event space. The original vault stays in place as a centrepiece, a piece of the building’s past that visitors can’t miss. The building has only been fully occupied since June 2026.
Upstairs, Pedestrian has created 16 affordable artist studios, available for rent. Every pound of that income goes straight back into the youth programmes downstairs, so a community of working artists above makes a full programme of youth work possible below.
Pedestrian’s Programmes and Projects
Each year, Pedestrian delivers a flagship project. “Grown: A Grime Opera” paired grime written by local artists with a 65-piece youth orchestra on stage at Highcross, and it was featured in the final episode of Goldie’s BBC Radio 3 series Street to Symphony Hall. Tell Tall Tales, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, gathered Leicester and Leicestershire folklore into a graphic novel, and the project was exhibited at New Walk Museum.
The current flagship project, Back to Books, is an eight-month programme with Leicester Libraries that combines music, art, digital media and creative writing to get young people reading again. Next comes Walking My Shoes, a hip hop musical about the city’s shoe and boot industry. Young people make all the music for these projects, and it’s pressed at the only remaining vinyl pressing plant in Leicestershire, Sonic Wax Pressing. Freelancers deliver the work, and Pedestrian hopes to base some of them in the upstairs studios eventually.
A Route Into Creative Work
A door is a small thing until you consider what it opens, and here that means a route into creative work for young people who might not otherwise find one. As Dave, our RevOps Manager, says, “Herdl supports Pedestrian for the amazing work they do in our local city of Leicester. They’re inspiring creativity in teenagers and young adults who would otherwise face social exclusion, and we’re proud to support such a worthy cause.”
Marketing is a creative trade, and agencies need people who’ve had the chance to learn, make things, and share their ideas and talents with the world. Pedestrian gives them that chance. We’re proud to have played a part, and we’d like to see more Leicester businesses do the same.
How you can help
Hema, who has directed Pedestrian since 2020, told us she welcomes people who’ll give young creatives honest commercial feedback on their work. If that’s you, or your business, get in touch with Pedestrian. And if you know an artist who needs studio space, send them there too. For more information about Pedestrian, visit their website to support their work.