We've Chosen Here

22/07/2020

Introducing-We’ve Chosen Here: The Platform!! 🎧🎊
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If you listened to the ‘Final Thoughts’ podcast last week you will know that now it’s over to YOU! Our emails are open till 1st August so send in your tributes about a lost loved one and the place that reminds you of them. In this time when funerals and final goodbyes look very different we wanted to open this platform as a way to look back on positive memories and create a legacy of lost loved ones. Send in your recordings by 1st August to [email protected] in an MP3 format (max 10 minutes)
We can’t wait to hear them!
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(please don’t send in anything with sounds or music you do not own as we can’t release them due to copyright!) All pieces sent in will then be deemed property of the WCH project.
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16/07/2020

‘We will all experience loss in our lives and in these last few months that is what has united us: everyone has lost something…I could not foresee how much loss we would experience as a country, as a world, in such a short amount of time when I thought up this project.’
https://soundcloud.com/user-425713365
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As we come to the end of the first We’ve Chosen Here series of podcasts, lead artist Lizzy Fretwell, reflects on the process of releasing this series of podcasts in the midst of Covid-19 lockdown and the Black Lives Matter protests. She talks openly about the grapple with the ethics over releasing these podcasts during this time and the events for the participants that poignantly coincided with their podcast release.
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She also talks about the next stage of the project, opening up We’ve Chosen Here as a platform for anyone to send in their story of a place that sparks positive memories of a lost loved one. If you would like to send in a podcast, please email: [email protected]
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Thank you to everyone for listening and showing their support throughout this project.
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(Image from Canva)

27/06/2020

‘It decorates the garden with colours, fragrance and fruit. Planted in his name, a Sadaqah Jariyah that benefits my son from beyond the grave’
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Our final podcast is brought to us by Hasna Weaver, a beautiful piece called ‘This Tree’ dedicated to her son, Nafis, who died suddenly at just 21 years old from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS). Hasna explains in her introduction to the poem that Nafis was an extremely generous individual and that trees played an important role in their relationship as he was growing up. The family planted trees in Nafis’ name in Palestine, in their garden and hope to plant a tree at his grave. This is part of the Muslim practice of Sadaqah Jariyah, a charity that will benefit those who have passed and continue their legacy by benefiting others.
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19/06/2020

Thank you Next Generation Youth Theatre for sharing the podcasts, all our love to Laura and the family at this time ❤️

‘Please take a moment to listen to the moving and poignant We’ve Chosen Here podcasts brought to us by creative and NGYT associate artist Lizzy Fretwell.

Thank you Lizzy for creating this platform & sensitively allowing people the opportunity to share their stories.

The series features a podcast by Laura in memory of her Grandmother Pat.

Many of you know this week has been particularly hard for Laura and we dedicate this post to the memory of Pat and Dennis ❤’

We’ve Chosen Here explores the connection between loss, location, legacy and community. Through a series of eleven workshops theatre maker, Lizzy Fretwell, worked with a group of Luton residents to cr

18/06/2020

‘However, the colour is still present in my memories of the walks around the lake with my Mum, and the pleasure she found in it.’ 🌳⛲️🌳
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Our penultimate podcast is brought to us today by Malcolm Fretwell, with ‘A Walk in the Park’. This tribute to his Step-Mum, Coral Fretwell, describes one of the many trips they took together to Wardown Park after Coral moved to Luton in her final years. The piece explores the poignancy that develops in simple routines like this, when our loved one is no longer there to do them with us, but how these places can still hold memories and take us back to those special times.

Reminder of the links to listen:
https://soundcloud.com/user-425713365
https://open.spotify.com/show/41jOG6HdeJ55Qr2kQJaYp5…
Search 'We've Chosen Here' on Apple Podcasts

18/06/2020

‘However, the colour is still present in my memories of the walks around the lake with my Mum, and the pleasure she found in it.’ 🌳⛲️🌳
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Our penultimate podcast is brought to us today by Malcolm Fretwell, with ‘A Walk in the Park’. This tribute to his Step-Mum, Coral Fretwell, describes one of the many trips they took together to Wardown Park after Coral moved to Luton in her final years. The piece explores the poignancy that develops in simple routines like this, when our loved one is no longer there to do them with us, but how these places can still hold memories and take us back to those special times.

16/06/2020

‘He had a chair, Grandad’s chair at my Nan’s house, and I remember going to visit my Nan afterwards and you know we’re allowed to sit on it now, we were never allowed to sit on it when he was alive.’
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Today’s podcast is a bit different. It is brought to us by Cerys Wrigley, who attended our first workshop where we created ‘Journeys of Grief’. Cerys is an accomplished young writer and activist from Luton and it’s a real honour to have her voice as part of the project. In her ‘Tribute to My Grandfather’, based on her Grandad-David Perkins, Cerys explores the grief journey her and the family went on: from learning about her Grandfather’s life-threatening illness to life moving forward with a noticeable longing to have her Grandfather there to see what she’s doing now.
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15/06/2020

‘My beautiful Mum, always wanted the best for everyone, and I am so grateful that she was my Mum.’ 🌸🌼🌸
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Sian Fretwell brings us ‘Beautiful Memories of My Mother’ for today’s podcast. This detailed tribute to her Mother, Janet Elliston, is centred on Stockwood Park, a place that holds many happy memories, particularly of the gardens which were a shared interest. Sian speaks of how the gardens themselves are representative of different historical times and how each one sparks personal memories for her. 🌺
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Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/user-425713365 or search on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 🎧

14/06/2020

‘For now I’ll travel on, leaving this podcast to show that life is as much about gain as it is about loss.’
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It’s Sunday, a day of rest 😴, so why not take five minutes to listen to this tear-jerking piece by Martin Elliston for his wife Janet. 😢
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Martin considers not only the impact Janet had on him, their family, friends and church community, but also the key reflections on loss and life he had whilst creating this tribute to her. The beautiful music accompanying this tribute is ‘There’s A Time for Tears’ by Sam Hargreaves engageworship.org(Resound Worship) 💧
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Reminder of the links to listen:
https://soundcloud.com/user-425713365
https://open.spotify.com/show/41jOG6HdeJ55Qr2kQJaYp5?si=rh49RR3VQnWCozChxWBxZQ
Search 'We've Chosen Here' on Apple Podcasts

13/06/2020

‘”Why do you want to do a project about death?” a question I’m sometimes asked. “To help others see the light,” I say, “when all they know has gone dark.”’ 💡

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Today’s podcast is from lead artist, Lizzy Fretwell. It is a poem called ‘Two Logs’, a tribute to Lizzy’s Grandma, Janet Elliston. It is actually the first of three tributes to Janet in this podcast series. Lizzy reflects on childhood memories of days out with her Grandma and her aim to support others in finding hope, even in experiences of loss, through this project.

Reminder of the links to listen:
https://soundcloud.com/user-425713365
https://open.spotify.com/show/41jOG6HdeJ55Qr2kQJaYp5…
Search 'We've Chosen Here' on Apple Podcasts

12/06/2020

‘This memory of her, because that’s all I have now-memories of her, is so vivid, so strong. Her in this place, this place that is so important to me’
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‘A Tribute to My Grandmother’ by Laura Lloyd is today’s podcast. Laura is a dancer, choreographer and Co-Artistic Director of Next Generation Youth Theatre ( ) based in Luton.
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This podcast recounts her experience of making a show with her Grandmother, Patricia (Pat) Miles and the young people in her dance company. The performance took place at the Hat Factory Arts Centre (Luton), which became a significant place for both Laura and Pat. 🎭The piece shows how one individual can impart knowledge and inspiration that has a long-lasting legacy.

Reminder of the links to listen:
https://soundcloud.com/user-425713365
https://open.spotify.com/show/41jOG6HdeJ55Qr2kQJaYp5…
Search 'We've Chosen Here' on Apple Podcasts