Breaking the Silence on Hygiene Insecurity: Data as a Story. Creative outputs (poetry, artwork, photography, audio and soap installation) from community-led research with Kitty's Launderette, Anfield, Liverpool

Barry, Susan (2026) Breaking the Silence on Hygiene Insecurity: Data as a Story. Creative outputs (poetry, artwork, photography, audio and soap installation) from community-led research with Kitty's Launderette, Anfield, Liverpool. [Data Collection]

Abstract

This dataset brings together the creative outputs of a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) project on hygiene insecurity (also called hygiene poverty), an often-overlooked form of poverty. The research was co-designed by Liverpool John Moores University and Kitty's Launderette, a workers' community co-operative in Anfield, Liverpool.
The dataset presents research in creative forms that honour participants' contributions while making their experiences accessible to wider audiences. Drawing on co-produced knowledge about hygiene poverty, the work turns statistical realities into embodied, human stories. It contains poetry written by the Anfield Writers' Group at Kitty's Launderette, artworks and photographs created by community members, audio recordings of the poems, and a set of handmade soaps made with local soap maker Georgina Tang, each inscribed with a key theme from the research. These materials formed the exhibition 'Breaking the Silence on Hygiene Insecurity: Data as a Story'.
These creative approaches centre community voices, challenge stigma, and invite audiences to engage emotionally and intellectually with an issue that affects many people but is rarely spoken about. The work foregrounds dignity, agency and connection, and shows how artistic methods can illuminate lived realities in ways that purely academic formats cannot.