Soundpost Community Network

Soundpost is Community Music Organisation born in 2011 by folk artists Fay Hield, Sam Sweeney, Andy Bell and Jon Boden to bring music, song and dance into people's lives through participation and performance. Soundpost has evolved over the years to become a flourishing Folk Arts organisation, running popular intensive weekends away, day-long workshops and study days, schools projects and our weekly Folk Factory clubs. At the heart of all our events remains a commitment to develop practical skills with thinking attached whilst firmly recognising the value of entertainment.

We run 4 weekly Folk music groups under our Folk Factory umbrella name. We have a Junior, Senior and adult group based In Dungworth and a lunchtime group based at Carfield Primary School which are all delivered by Folk Fiddle player Nicola Beazley and are currently being run virtually. Our Folk Factory groups regularly perform at festivals and events including Music For Youth, The Folk Forest and our Winter Garden Carol Day.

Every December we run a project with Sheffield University which celebrates the local Sheffield Carol Scene. We deliver carol workshops in Primary schools across Sheffield as part of the Universities Widening Participation initiative and this project culminates with a Carol Event at Firth Hall.

Alongside our school carol project we host a community carol event every December at The Winter Gardens where we bring the local carols into the city centre with ‘Big Sing’ sessions open to all and performances by local community groups - choirs, brass bands, folk groups and many more.

We also host a Folk Music Workshop Weekend once a year with workshops, talks, sessions, informal performances and a gig in the village of Dungworth. Tutors have ranged from local Folk Musicians to international guests and everything in between. Some of our recents Artists have been Martin Carthy, Jon Boden, Sam Sweeney, Nancy Kerr, Fay Hield, Karine Polwart, Paul Sartin, Bryony Griffith and Jackie Oates.