‘Everything changes, everything stays the same’, a year long arts project for 2023, funded by Arts Council England and Westmorland and Furness Council, brought together residents, schools, voluntary sector groups, scientists, conservation groups, local councils, and landowners to collaborate with artists and creative practitioners, using sound and music as a medium to explore the past, present, and future of the area’s landscapes. Their created work was performed across the Fellfoot Forward landscape at special events and also broadcast through an online radio channel, ‘Fellfoot Sounds’ created by the project team.

The participants went on a sound walk, engaged in music making activities, and wrote lyrics, then rehearsed for a gig in front of friends, family and community members, where they performed their original music as well as other songs they’d been learning and adapting.

Many of the participants went through significant changes in confidence, in particular when given sound recording equipment. Listening to the audio from the sound walk, Jeremy and I were struck by the increase in their spoken communication.