Slough revealed as gloomiest place in UK - get paid £500 to yarn bomb it!

Have you ever wondered where the gloomiest places in the UK are? It’s something most Brits will have an opinion on, but we wanted to find out definitively which place is the gloomy capital of the country.

Why do this? There’s a cheery mission, we promise! Here at LoveCrafts we’re all about spreading joy, so thought if we could identify which areas are in need of a bit of a ‘pick me up’, we’re in a good position to do just that!

First off, we asked 5,000 members of the public to rank the UK’s towns and cities by ‘gloominess’ and ‘joyfulness’, so we could collate a top ten for each. Respondents were asked to consider the landscape, atmosphere, architecture and cleanliness when deciding.

The results were certainly insightful, with a strong trend towards the places lacking natural, green landscapes being identified as the gloomiest.

So, without further ado, here are the top ten gloomiest places in the UK:

Slough
Port Talbot
Scunthorpe
Grimsby
Rochdale
Stoke-on-Trent
Birmingham
Newport
Blackpool
Stirling

We didn’t want to be all doom and gloom, so here are the 10 most joyful places in the UK:

Brighton
York
Oxford
Ambleside
Edinburgh
Cambridge
Bourton-on-the-Water
Bath
Guilford
Bristol

Now for the fun bit! We’re on a mission to brighten up the gloomiest places by recruiting crafty members of the public to do a spot of ‘yarn bombing’! ‘What’s yarn bombing?’ you might ask.

Essentially, it's a temporary street art installation using colourful knitted or crocheted yarn to jazz up a public area! Think fixtures, such as trees, benches and lamp posts, covered in colourful woven yarn, often crafted into fun patterns. That's exactly what you could be paid to do!

We’ve allocated £500 per location, which will be paid to each yarn bomber. All we need is some people willing to take the time to decorate and add a bit of cheerful colour to these areas. We’ll also cover all materials, so you won’t need to spend any of your own money on yarn or needles.

Simply fill in your details, and we’ll be in touch if you’re successful with your application!

Fill out your application here!

“The results of our research will certainly divide opinion. One thing we noticed was that most of the cities in the top 10 have a somewhat ‘concrete jungle’ appearance, which might suggest that areas that lack greenery can be perceived as gloomy."

Edward Griffith, Founder of LoveCrafts.com, said,

“The results of our research will certainly divide opinion. One thing we noticed was that most of the cities in the top 10 have a somewhat ‘concrete jungle’ appearance, which might suggest that areas that lack greenery can be perceived as gloomy.

“Getting creative with yarn is a fantastic idea to bring joy to these areas and put a smile on people’s faces. So, what better way to bring our passion for knitting and crochet to the towns in need of a bit of colour, than with some giant yarn installations! I hope we receive some good interest in our job openings, it should be a really fun project to work on.”