WECH celebrates 40 years since the campaign began that led to the creation of the UK’s largest and most valuable community-owned housing association — a landmark moment in the story of social housing and collective ownership.
To mark this anniversary, WECH has launched a limited-edition 2026 calendar, Into the Lion’s Den — and we were proud to support them in bringing the project to life, both creatively and digitally.
A campaign remembered, a community celebrated
The Into the Lion’s Den calendar tells the extraordinary story of the Walterton and Elgin Action Group (WEAG) — a movement of London residents who took on one of Britain’s most powerful local authorities and, through persistence, unity, and daring creativity, won control of their homes and their future.
As told by WEAG Coordinator Jonathan Rosenberg, the calendar draws on his firsthand accounts from 1985 to 1988. It blends vivid photographs, striking illustrations, and witty cartoons to capture the energy and humour of a campaign that was anything but conventional. Along the way, WEAG recruits the Iron Man, sings to its opponents, and sidesteps authority in a sequence of actions as clever as they were courageous.
The story climaxes as WEAG’s campaign collides with the Homes for Votes scandal, where political interests clashed with public accountability; a conflict that ultimately saw Dame Shirley Porter fined £12 million for misuse of council resources. The last pages of the calendar close in on the moment of victory when the developers finally back down, and the community secures 921 homes and £22 million in investment, establishing the resident-controlled landlord that became WECH.
Helping to bring their story to life
We worked closely with WECH and Jonathan directly, where our team helped translate this remarkable history into both a tactile and digital experience that resonates with today’s audiences.
Creative direction and narrative design
We supported the calendar’s editorial and designed the visual structure, helping frame each month around a key moment in the campaign’s evolution, blending storytelling with impact.
Digital design and development
We developed the dedicated campaign site, intothelionsden.co.uk, making it easy for supporters to explore the history, preview the calendar, and purchase it online.
Brand and accessibility alignment
The visual language and accessibility standards were carefully designed to reflect WECH’s values while ensuring the story feels fresh and approachable to younger audiences discovering it for the first time.
For us, Into the Lion’s Den represents the kind of project we value most: where strong community work meets thoughtful design and technology, helping ensure important local stories are accessible, engaging, and enduring.
LUV has done a fantastic job bringing our history to life, helping to create and distribute a top quality publication of which we are all tremendously proud.
40 years on, still standing strong
WECH’s success remains a beacon in the housing movement — proof that when residents organise around shared purpose, extraordinary change is possible. The Into the Lion’s Den calendar captures that moment in time, not as nostalgia, but as inspiration for what collective action can still achieve today.
Developing our commemorative calendar with LUV has been a pleasure. The team understood the project from the outset and worked flexibly to help us achieve a great quality product within tight timeframes. We are really proud of the end result.
We’re honoured to have played a small part in this celebration of resilience, design, and community power.
You can explore the project and order the calendar at intothelionsden.co.uk, and learn more about WECH’s incredible ongoing work at wech.org.uk.
