‘Memories of Water’ is the title of the first song to come out of a collaboration between Make Water Famous and musicians Paul Simmonds and Naomi Bedford.

The musicians hosted a song-writing workshop all about water with members of the Friends Families & Travellers community group in Brighton on 28 October. In the three-hour session, the group brainstormed water-related words and shared their personal memories and feelings about the theme.

This comes as global leaders link tackling water and climate at COP26 as crisis looms. Earlier this month, governments and UN agencies formed a water and climate coalition to address growing hazards and shrinking reserves of water. On 5 November, a special event called Thirsty for Change focused on the demands for more ambitious action to protect water sources.

“It was important to me that we were all very quickly thinking and talking about water,” said Paul, “that is the point of Make Water Famous – sparking conversations to bring people’s attention to this critical resource.”

Paul and Naomi tour globally and perform together as a folk-roots duo, they are currently recording their latest album. Paul is also songwriter and guitarist with punk folk band The Men They Couldn’t Hang.

“We deliver song-writing workshops on all kinds of themes, but what surprised me was just what a unifying topic water is,” said Naomi. “It brings everyone together, talking about their shared and personal experiences - and the everyday comments people make can be beautiful lyrics for a song.”

Martha Ostick, community engagement and project officer, Friends Families & Travellers took part in the workshop, she said, “I felt elevated. We all took something away from this experience, whether it was learning a new skill or a feeling of wellbeing from coming together to create a beautiful song.”

Another of the participants said, “I loved it; it made me think more about the water situation in the world.”

While many people can take for granted the ease with which they can access clean water and sanitation, for people living roadside, it can be a struggle to access these basic amenities. During the Covid-19 pandemic, with access to public toilets and other services limited, Friends, Families & Travellers were inundated with phone calls from people struggling to access water.

Natasha Wiseman, founder of not-for-profit Make Water Famous said, “This is our first community engagement project about water, and I couldn’t be happier with how it went. The group were very excited to be able to share their work with friends and family on social media and we already have a song for our new positive news platform www.makewaterfamous.com.

“Water is everywhere in our lives, but sometimes we need to take a moment to think about how special it really is. Paul and Naomi are very talented artists and really know how to bring people together through conversation, music and shared experiences.”

The song-writing workshops are supported by the Arts Council and through Make Water Famous. Natasha is looking for more partners to sponsor the water-themed sessions with groups of all ages and backgrounds - and to roll them out across the UK.

Click here to listen to the song created by the Friends Families and Travellers community group.