We are delighted to announce that Coventry Station Community Day has been shortlisted in the Community Rail Awards 2022. The festival and evening performance has made it to the final of the Best Community Engagement project category.
Highly Sprung produced this event in May with Heart of England Community Rail Partnership, with funding from Avanti West Coast Rail and Coventry City Council. The day celebrated the reopening of the new and improved railway station and the original station’s 60th anniversary.
Daytime Programme:
We were delighted to welcome a range of wonderful performances, workshops and activities throughout the day, featuring:
- Music from Sandra Godley, John Bernard The Jazz Apples and Positive Youth Foundation
- Dance from Gabhru Panjab and Louis Lewinson
- ‘Learn to Ride a Bike’ sessions for children from Coventry City Council, along with a free bike Doctor!
- Creative railway-themed workshops from Coventry Transport Museum and illustrator Emily Kaye
- Plenty of other activities to get people moving, creative and thinking about greener travel
Evening Performance:
The day concluded with a new performance from Highly Sprung of In Transit, which told a beautiful story of migration, innovation and community in the city.
In Transit was also a part of Commonwealth Connections, which connects children and young people in Coventry with schools across the Commonwealth. The Coventry schools we worked with had the great privilege of making connections with young people from Zambia, and the performance featured an original recording of a Zambian song of welcome to celebrate this, composed & recorded by Tom Haines.
We were delighted to work with our professional performers alongside a community cast of local schools – with over 100 young people from 2 primary schools, 2 secondary and 1 multi-ability school in the local area. Thank you to Earlsdon Primary, Moseley Primary School, Finham Park 2, Corpus Christi, Riverbank Academy and Coundon Court.
The show of course also featured a new flying machine, in true Sprung style!
We hope you enjoy a selection of images from the day and performance below. Results will be announced later on this year, so keep those fingers crossed!
