Seeds of Hope was a project in partnership with Cumbria Wildlife Trust, that offered an opportunity for people to reconnect with nature and have fun with art forms that both celebrate them and our natural world.
Funded by The National Lottery Community fund the project established a Youth Theatre for young people who have additional needs, as well as creating opportunities to bring together different groups of people in a community wildlife garden. Using traditional stories of flora and fauna, the young people celebrated the importance of nature, by engaging with the plants and wildlife in the garden at Gosling Sike, Houghton to create a promenade performance to celebrate Cumbria Wildlife Trusts 60th Anniversary as part of their Arts in Nature celebration.
The project also worked with Houghton C of E school who created the site decoration working with artist Helen Walsh. Thanks to funding from Cumbria County Council, the project offered family days based at the site, for the local community.
The Laal Youth Theatre shared their promenade performance on Sunday 24th July 2022. The audience were guided through the community gardens where they met characters inspired by the folklore, solved challenges presented to them and learnt an important environmental message: Protect your World.
“The Seeds of Hope project was an amazing way to connect with young people we haven’t worked with before, and to get their views and thoughts on the importance of a healthy environment.
The process of developing the performance was an incredible learning experience for us too, and the end result was something we couldn’t have imagined. The performance attracted new people to our wildlife garden, who previously didn’t even know it was there, and was also enjoyed by some of our practical volunteers who said it showed the garden they spend so much time caring for in a new light. The wider project was also a great way to connect us with the wider community, bringing together the work of the youth theatre, local school children, and families.
It’s so important to give young people a voice about biodiversity loss and climate change, and the messages are much more powerful when they are told with imagination and creativity.”
Jody Ferguson, Community Development Manager (Cumberland), Cumbria Wildlife Trust
