Orchestras Live awarded Historic England funding for new youth led project in Bolsover
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We’re delighted to have been awarded £13,719 from Historic England’s History in the Making grant programme. This new grant programme has been launched to encourage young people to engage with and celebrate their local heritage.
Orchestras Live will work with a range of partners to deliver Body of Water: a youth‑led music and environmental storytelling project in Doe Lea, Bolsover.
Body of Water places young people’s creativity and local knowledge at the centre of how their community’s history is remembered; echoing the aims of Historic England’s History in the Making programme to ensure overlooked stories are celebrated by the people who know them best.
Our partnership project will enable young people to explore the hidden history and ecological heritage of the River Doe Lea — a landscape shaped by industrial pollution and ongoing environmental regeneration. Working with partners at Doe Lea Centre, Bolsover District Council, Sinfonia Viva and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, participants aged 13–18 will take part in creative workshops combining environmental exploration, heritage research, music‑making and willow‑sculpture building.
Guided by professional musicians and environmental experts, young people will capture the sounds and stories of the river, transforming them into an original co‑created soundscape. This will be installed along the community‑used Willow Walk inside a sculptural willow pod designed and built by the participants. The pod will act as a public listening point and a lasting marker celebrating the river’s journey from pollution to biodiversity.
The project will culminate in a walk and public performance at the willow pod, where young people will share their music, learning and connection to the river with the wider community.
Chiara Dellerba, Community Impact Coordinator for the Midlands said:
Body of Water is a great next step in Orchestras Live’s work in Bolsover; building on our commitment to making music accessible and creating opportunities for communities to shape the cultural offer around them.
Since 2022, through projects such as The Dancing Flowers of Doe Lea and, more recently, Voices of Bolsover, we have been developing relationships with local communities, schools and community partners in this area, exploring how music can celebrate local stories, bring people together and create space for new ideas and aspirations.
With Body of Water, we are excited to build on this journey by placing young people at the heart of exploring and re-imagining the story of the River Doe Lea. I am particularly looking forward to seeing how they connect with the heritage of the place where they live, reflect on its changing landscape through an ecological lens and imagine its future through a variety of creative ingredients.
Through this process, I hope we will create something that truly belongs to the community, celebrating the river’s journey towards ecological regeneration while giving young people’s voices a lasting place within its story.
We hope the project leaves a legacy of new retellings of local histories, strengthens young people’s pride in the place they live, and ensures the stories they encounter are carried forward by the communities who live in them.
Project Partners:
Sinfonia Viva (Orchestral Partner)
Doe Lea Centre
Project contact:
Chiara Dellerba
Body of Water received funding from Historic England's History in the Making grant programme and the UK Government.