At the start of lockdown Newington Big Local’s youth group, Chill Club went ‘online’ and 10 young people worked with actress Lisa Payne to create a six-part ‘Lockdown’ poem, talking about their experiences of the pandemic.
The young people worked with RashDash – a group of artists that perform around the world – to contribute to “Don’t Go Back To Sleep: The Lockdown Album,” based on interviews with people across the globe.
RashDash follow people from 12 countries: Argentina to China, and here in the UK through the joys and fears of lockdown. The album weaves together the voices, experiences and dreams of a global population waking up to the world and taking a second look at who we were before everything changed and now who we are becoming.
The voices of Newington’s young people can be heard alongside other contributors, including a man in Mumbai whose work usually takes him away from home but who spent 26 days with his 26 year old daughter during lockdown; a Swedish doctor in favour of his government’s no-lockdown stance; a young participant in the National Youth Theatre of Kenya who offered views from Nairobi’s Mathari slum; an anonymous woman in China surprised by the lack of co-operation with rules she saw on the news from Britain and a New Zealander eagerly returning to a normal social life as her country declared the all clear.
You can listen to the album on bandcamp and it’s available across all major platforms.
Artist and youth leader, Nova Marshall said: “It’s a real insight into what was going on in people’s minds throughout that time.”
Newington Big Local was set up in 2012 and is one of 150 Big Local areas across England, funded by Local Trust. Newington Big Local is a community partnership, led by residents and responsible for a number of activities and annual events, including its creative festival, Best Fest, Easter, Halloween and Christmas parties and school holiday activities.
Find out more at https://www.renewington.com/