£250 prize for young street artist to design Union Gardens hoarding

To celebrate the progress at Roffey Homes’ Union Gardens site, the Worthing property developer is inviting local street artists aged 21 and under to enter a competition to design a hoarding panel at the town-centre location.

The winner will receive £250 and have their design displayed on the south-east hoarding panel on Chatsworth Road.

How to enter

The competition is open to local street artists aged 21 and under. Each entry must include:

• Examples of the artist’s previous work

• A design idea with a Union Gardens theme, ideally including the Union Gardens logo; beyond that, the artist can choose their own style

• For entrants under 18: permission from a parent or guardian

• Entrants should email Max Harbron at [email protected] with examples of their work and their design idea

• The deadline for entries is Friday 13th November 2026

Nadia Chalk, founder and director of local Community Interest Company (CIC) Creative Waves, shared her enthusiasm for the competition. “This is a wonderful project, and I’ll be encouraging the young artists and designers I work with to enter. Young creatives rarely get the chance to show their work in a busy town-centre spot. A project like this can give them real confidence and a piece they can be proud of in their own town.”

Union Gardens is a landmark development for Worthing and has taken several years of planning and negotiations to come to fruition. Located between the High Street and the Connaught Theatre, the site has remained largely vacant (apart from an NCP car park) since the police station was demolished in 2009.

The development will deliver 216 new homes, elegantly landscaped gardens, 5,000 sq. ft. of commercial space and a 235-space car park, which will include 142 spaces for public use. Union Gardens is set to transform this key area of the town centre into a vibrant new neighbourhood.

As with all Roffey Homes developments, sustainability will be central to the scheme, with the plans including enhanced insulation, biodiverse roofs and a proposed connection to the innovative Worthing Heat Network.

Roffey Homes Managing Director Ben Cheal said, “Providing support and tangible benefits to the local community has always been central to our developments. This competition gives a young artist the chance to leave their mark on Worthing while we build Union Gardens. We can’t wait to see the designs, and we hope many local artists will enter.”

Alongside this competition, Roffey Homes has also pledged a total contribution of £36,000 to be donated to local projects and causes over the expected 3-year construction period. So far, recipients of the Union Gardens Community Fund have included Whytemead Primary School, Sight Support Worthing and Friends of Lyons Farm Open Space.

For more information on Union Gardens, please contact Max Harbron via [email protected] or visit www.roffeyhomes.com/developments/union-gardens/