Sep 9, 2025
Student photography project, exhibition and film
Lucy Grecic, a film student at Kendal College, came to CDEC at the start of 2025 with her idea for a project visiting businesses and charities across Cumbria to photograph the work they are doing to build a fair and more sustainable world.
This became 'Connected Cumbria' and Lucy was joined by fellow students from Kendal College to travel around the county and take the photographs which formed the basis of the exhibition. The purpose of this was to highlight the efforts being made by businesses and charities to champion and embed equity, community and environmental sustainability; the project also served to provide a platform for charity workers, business leaders, and community members to connect, share ideas and inspire hope for a fairer and more sustainable future.
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Lucy says, "this project is specifically aimed at using creativity to promote and uplift the good work happening across Cumbria: with the intention of celebrating compassionate and sustainable projects locally in a way to inspire more of them in our communities. It was important to create a space where people can walk into and be surrounded by reasons to feel hopeful and inspired.
"On a personal level, going out to take some of these pictures along with working closely with CDEC and experiencing their enthusiasm and willingness to support this project has opened my eyes to just how many people and projects there are within just this county committed to the same hope and compassion driven goals. It has been really uplifting for me to see and be a part of, so I hope this small exhibition can make some others feel the same way."
Since the exhibition finished its run at the Wildman Gallery in Kendal, it was on display at Kendal Town Hall and then at the Youth Climate Summit in Barrow at the end of June. There are plans for a tour of the exhibition in the coming months - in the meantime, take a look at this film of the project:
This project has been made possible thanks to funding from Westmorland and Furness Council, Cumbria Community Foundation (who awarded grants from eight funds including those set up by Genesis Homes and Westmorland Ltd.) and The National Lottery Community Fund as part of the Zero Carbon Cumbria project.
