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This project successfully funded on 18th July 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
Singing with Nightingales: Reaching further
Lewes, East Sussex, United Kingdom
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Aim
To create transformative artistic experiences that connect diverse communities to nature, inspiring love for the wild in those who need it.
Singing with Nightingales: Support us to Rewild Hearts and Minds
Since 2015, folk singer and activist Sam Lee has guided over 10,000 people on an extraordinary journey through Singing with Nightingales, a profound experience where art and nature intertwine.
This campaign aims to bring the magic and transformation of this event, as well as new events co-created with nature, to a wide and diverse range of communities across the UK and beyond.
The original magical Singing with Nightingale evenings, featured in The Guardian and BBC Radio 4, and inspired by artists such as Maggie Hambling, are recognised for their unique approach to nature connection, blending ancient folklore, ecological awareness, and artistic expression.
There aren't many events that, in one evening, can touch participants so deeply that they profoundly re-evaluate their place in the world and their connection with the rest of life.
Our vision: Wild culture for all
While seemingly simple, our event takes hundreds of hours of work to deliver (from programming to onsite delivery). This is why it is priced as it is. But our ten-year mission extends far beyond creating transformative experiences for those who can afford them.
We believe that: Deep nature connection isn't a luxury; it's essential for human wellbeing and the future of our planet.
We want to grow a wide, diverse and inclusive community of nature appreciators and defenders -those who understand the interconnectedness of life on this planet.
As you cannot love what you don't know, and often you will not fight to protect what you don't love.
Yet many communities, particularly those facing economic barriers, have significantly less access to these transformative experiences. Too often, they don't reflect our diverse population in the UK.
Our 10-year path
At Singing with Nightingales, we're committed to rewilding diverse human hearts and minds through artistic co-creations with nature.
In the next ten years, Singing with Nightingales will go deeper and reach further into the possibilities of artistic co-creation with the natural world.
We want to widen opportunities for people to participate and enable new communities to come into intimate connection with the wild.
We want to create accessible, extraordinary and profound experiences that can nourish and impact change on a community and individual level.
Our flagship event blends land, inter-species interaction, art and people together. Over the next decade, we will:
PEOPLE
- Expand our existing events to new, more accessible formats and pilot new events targeted at wider audiences
- Forge deep partnerships with underrepresented communities through collaboration with community organisations
- Specifically target audiences who wouldn't typically attend nature events, providing subsidised or free access where needed
LAND
- Reach new locations across the UK and Europe
- Deepen the nature connection and wild education of our communities
ART
- Create innovative new artistic creations with the natural world and support new artists to develop wild collaborations
- Support more artists to deepen their nature connection and bring this into their creative work through onsite residencies
INTER-SPECIES
- Develop and trial new wild cultural events with other species
Who we are
Singing with Nightingales is an independent, non-profit organisation bringing together diverse expertise within our team of:
- Musicians and artists (including renowned folk musicians and contemporary performers)
- Community development specialists with experience in urban outreach
- Environmental activists and ecological educators
- Producers and curators with experience managing large-scale events
- Media professionals skilled in documenting and sharing our work.
We operate through a non-hierarchical, sociocratic model, with regenerative principles at the core of everything we do.
Our strong organisational foundation and established relationships with landowners, environmental organisations, and artists across the UK provide the perfect platform for growth. Collaborators include the RSPB, Wildlife Trust, Emergence Magazine, Earth Percent and independent woodland owners.
Your support will help this become a reality
Your donation will help fund over the next two years:
- Development of deep partnerships with community organisations working with underrepresented communities
- Creation of innovative new pilot events targeting diverse audiences across the UK
- Trial new, more accessible locations
- Financial assistance for participants facing barriers to participation (transportation, accessibility support)
- Trial artistic residencies in nature
Join us in rewilding hearts and minds; one nightingale song at a time.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made