Seeds of Hope 2026

Projects have been supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Delivered with the support of the English Chamber Orchestra and in association with the THAMES Music Service, the Essex Music Service, Calderdale Council, and Calderdale Music.

Young people around the UK working alongside the nation’s finest musical talents to make music and create soundtracks for animated stories that celebrate their lives and their communities.

Seeds of Hope
When we embarked on the Seeds of Hope project during 2025, as a means of putting sustainability at the heart of our Lights Camera Score work, we didn’t imagine the amount of energy and enthusiasm that the sustainability theme would bring to our Lights Camera Score work.
Winning awards with UNESCO and receiving recognition from the Sandford St Martin Trust mixed with the joy and energy of our young participants inspired us to continue with the ‘Seeds of Hope’ theme during 2026.
Continuing to respond to the changing media environment around our young people and now being delivered under the patronage of the UK National Commission for UNESCO, Lights Camera Score has created yet more opportunities for professional creatives to co-author story narratives, music and film in schools across the country.
All the Lights Camera Score films made during 2026 began with the challenge…
‘Build A Garden To Save…’
In each region, the young participants decided what was important to save and then set about writing scripts to explore the issues around the thing they had chosen. We continue to be amazed by the thought-provoking narratives generated by the young storytellers at the heart of the project.
Whilst Three Stones Media and it’s regional animation partners turned stories written by young people into fully animated short films, English Chamber Orchestra and Little People Big Noise have delivered hundreds of hours of timetabled music lessons in schools across three key locations.
All the Seeds of Hope projects have yielded a unique musical score created, performed and recorded by the young participants. These wonderful musical creations form the background to the animated films which carry multiple messages about caring for our environment and sustainability of culture and life.
As partners respond to the live aspects of our work virtually all the pupil and student creations have  been performed live, accompanied by players of the English Chamber Orchestra. We are delighted to celebrate the story work and the musical creations of the young people who have brought this project to life.
We hope you enjoy watching the work of those in…
Regions
Calderdale
A project delivered in association with the English Chamber Orchestra, Calderdale Council and Calderdale Music.
Participants
  • Ash Green Community Primary School
  • Beech Hill School
  • Calder High School
  • Calder Primary School
  • Cliffe Hill Community Primary School
  • Cross Lane Primary School
  • Dean Field Primary School
  • Holy Trinity Primary School
  • North Halifax Grammar School
  • Wainstalls School
All the participant schools performed their own compositions alongside the English Chamber Orchestra at a special Finale event at the Victoria Theatre on the 23rd June.
Essex
A project delivered in association with the English Chamber Orchestra, Zenith Academy Trust, and the Essex Music Service.
Participants
  • Castledon School
  • Castle View School
  • Hadleigh Primary School
  • James Hornsby School
  • Laindon Park Primary School
  • Lubbins Primary School
  • Sweyne Park School
  • The King John School
Tower Hamlets
The LCS team worked with Swanlea School and THAMES music to deliver a special secondary pilot project which focuses on deepening the engagement of the LCS resource within the secondary context. We are delighted by the outcomes and look forward to bringing what we’ve learned to LCS THAMES projects scheduled for the autumn.
Songs
We are delighted to present this year’s LCS songs accompanied by animated extracts from the ‘Seed of Hope’ 2026 films…
Thank you
We would like to say a big thank you to all the composers, the instrumental tutors, and classroom staff, and organisations who have made this amazing project happen.
Seeds of Hope projects have been supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

If you would like to know about the Lights Camera Score project please get in touch.