An Experimental Public Engagement Project

One Nottingham family is hoping for an Indian Summer, as they’ll be spending most of September outside. Sophia Collins and Ross Winter will walk from one end of the Trent to the other, as part of a project celebrating the river through a mixture of stories and music. Beginning at Biddulph Moor, Staffordshire on 1st September and ending at Trent Falls, Lincolnshire on 21st September, Sophia and Ross will walk ten miles a day, taking in 19 places along the route, including Stoke on Trent, Burton on Trent, Nottingham and Newark.

Each event will have a storytelling and music performance in the first half. This performance will be a mixture of folktales and factual stories – history, archaeology, geology, and so on. The second half will be a chance for audience members to chat and share stories their own stories.

Sophia says:

No-one will have to get up on stage unless they want to, they’ll just be talking in small groups. But everyone has a story. We’ll be doing lots of schools, community centres and pubs, but also we’re up for performing in fields, factories, on buses… As long as there’s somewhere for people to sit, and enough quiet for people to talk, we’re happy!”

If you’d like to host an event or find out more, please get in touch with Sophia and Ross via their blog here.