Animating Change: A Visual Legacy for the Mr Hastings and St Leonards Initiative
How an animated timeline helped advocate for men’s wellbeing in Hastings
When the Mr Hastings and St Leonards Initiative approached the end of its initial three years of funding, the team knew they needed something more impactful than a standard end-of-project report.
They wanted to reflect the journey they’d taken - celebrate the achievements, honour the work, and communicate the outcomes in a way that felt engaging, meaningful and memorable. So they commissioned me to create a hand-drawn animated timeline and visual banner that would tell the story with warmth, clarity and imagination.
This is exactly the kind of project I love working on: using visual storytelling to support community-based work, advocacy and legacy-building.
A Creative Approach to Evaluation and Impact Reporting
Traditional end-of-year reports can be dense and difficult to digest. By contrast, an animated timeline can offer a visual summary of progress, challenges, and growth - something that can be shared easily with stakeholders, presented at events and used to spark further conversation.
Mr Hastings and St Leonards timeline by Esther Springett
“We decided we would like to commission an animated timeline to creatively illustrate the journey so far. I had met Esther previously at a conference and knew she would be exactly the right person to do this for us.”
From Conversation to Visual Story
The process was highly collaborative. Together, we worked through the story of the initiative - identifying key milestones, turning points and reflections, and shaped this into a hand-drawn timeline that brought the story to life.
“Esther was so helpful and patient with us throughout. She guided us through the process and was great at enabling us to identify what the key points were that we wanted to illustrate. The reflection that we undertook as part of this process not only enabled the production of a fabulous timeline, but supported us in the production of our end-of-year Learning and Legacy Report.”
A Lasting Visual Resource for Advocacy and Engagement
The final visual timeline and banners are now being used across presentations, reports and events, highlighting an Asset Based Community Development approach - an important part of the project’s identity and success.
“The banners are a great conversation starter and will be travelling to venues across the county to encourage continued conversations around men’s health and wellbeing.”
Bringing Your Story to Life
It was a real privilege to support a project grounded in community health and creativity. Whether you’re planning a report, evaluation session, or public-facing event visual storytelling can make your message clearer, more engaging and easier to share.
If you're looking for infographics or an animated explainer to help tell the story of your initiative, I’d love to hear from you.
