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When Anna Speedy first heard that Totnes was going to create a brand-new musical about energy, community, and sustainability, she immediately knew she wanted her students to be part of it.
At the time, Anna was Head of Music at King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC), and her students had just finished an ambitious production of Les Misérables. The SWIMBY project — short for Something Wonderful in My Back Yard — arrived as a breath of fresh air: original, playful, and rooted in the community’s real concerns about the environment and the future.
“It was so exciting,” she recalled. “A new musical about our place, our people, and our energy — being written in front of our eyes. That just doesn’t happen very often.”
SWIMBY, written by Matt Harvey and Thomas Hewitt Jones, explored what it means to take power — literally and metaphorically — into our own hands. With humour and warmth, the show celebrated community energy, renewable power, and the human energy that flows when people work together for change.
Matt and Tommy worked closely with KEVICC’s students, experimenting with songs, lyrics, and ideas in real time. “They’d come in with a song, change it on the spot, play around with harmonies — it was alive,” Anna remembered. “You could feel the buzz in the room.”
For the students, the experience was transformative. “They were singing about the world they’re growing up in — climate, fairness, the power of community — and they could see how their voices mattered in that conversation,” she said. “It gave them a sense of agency.”
Anna believes projects like SWIMBY are essential because they connect global issues with personal experience. “When young people get to explore sustainability through art, it stops being abstract,” she explained. “They start to see that change isn’t just about politicians or scientists — it’s about creativity, teamwork, imagination. It’s about all of us.”
She saw how performance gave students confidence and purpose. “Taking part in the arts teaches empathy, resilience, communication, and joy,” she said. “Those are the same qualities we need to tackle the climate crisis — the ability to listen, collaborate, and see the bigger picture.”
The SWIMBY performances in the KEVICC theatre brought together professional artists, students, and community choirs, creating a shared space of celebration and reflection. “It was exactly what that theatre was built for,” said Anna. “A space for connection — between the school and the community, between art and real life.”
She saw how this kind of project builds confidence in young people and strengthens community bonds. “When students stand on stage beside professional artists, they start to believe they can do it too,” she said. “That’s how creative futures are made.”
For Anna, SWIMBY showed that music and creativity have a unique role in making sustainability feel hopeful. “We talk so much about what’s going wrong,” she said. “But this project reminded us that change can be joyful. It’s about people coming together, using their voices — literally — to imagine a better future.”
The experience left a deep impression on everyone involved. “It was fun, it was meaningful, and it was ours,” Anna reflected. “It helped young people see themselves as part of something bigger — a story about energy, about care for the planet, and about community power. That’s what the arts can do. They make you feel part of the change.”
“When you make music together, you learn more than just notes and rhythms — you learn how to listen, how to care, and how to belong.”
For Anna Speedy, music is one of the most powerful tools a young person can have. It’s not just about learning to sing or play; it’s about learning to connect.
Music gives young people a voice — literally and metaphorically. It lets them express what’s hard to put into words, and it helps them discover who they are. When they perform with others, they learn teamwork, empathy, and resilience. “You have to listen, adjust, take turns, trust that someone else will come in at the right time,” Anna says. “Those are life skills as much as musical ones.”
Projects like SWIMBY show how music can link personal development to something bigger — to ideas of community, sustainability, and care for the world around us. When young people sing about the place they live, or about the energy that powers their homes, they start to see themselves as part of that story. “It’s no longer just a lesson,” Anna explains. “It becomes about what kind of world we want to make together.”
She believes that participating in music helps young people build confidence in their own agency — a sense that they can shape the future. Performing, especially in collaborative and original work, gives them proof of their own ability to contribute. “When you’ve stood on a stage and created something new with other people, you never forget that feeling,” she says. “It shows you that you have power — creative power, emotional power, social power.”
And just as importantly, it’s joyful. “There’s so much pressure on young people — academic, social, emotional. Music gives them space to breathe,” Anna reflects. “It brings lightness and laughter. It reminds them that learning can be playful, expressive, and full of life.”
For her, that’s what makes music essential — not optional. “Music teaches hope,” she says simply. “It shows young people that they can make something beautiful together — and that’s exactly what the world needs right now.”
“When you make music together, you learn more than just notes and rhythms — you learn how to listen, how to care, and how to belong.”
“Music gives young people a voice — literally and metaphorically. It lets them express what’s hard to say and helps them discover who they are.”
“Projects like SWIMBY show that music can turn learning into belonging — helping young people see themselves as part of something bigger.”
“When you’ve stood on a stage and created something new with other people, you never forget that feeling. It shows you that you have power.”
“Music teaches hope. It reminds young people that they can make something beautiful together — and that’s exactly what the world needs right now.”
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