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Tilly reflects on her time with the Prison Choir Project in HMP Wormwood Scrubs:  Prison experience Just before Christmas 2025, I went into Wormwood Scrubs with Prison Choir Project to shadow them as they led the men in preparing for their Christmas carol service, due to happen the following day. It was great to chat to Adam and the other pros about the realities of the prisons, and this opened my eyes further to the countless benefits that communal singing can bring to the prisoners. This was especially prominent when considering efforts towards rehabilitation, in a place where the men are in their cells for 23 hours per day. I had brought my guitar along, and joined the pros in accompanying the men as they sang through the carols. It was lovely to meet them in this context, and to hear solos and a general zest for music. During the breaks from singing, I performed a couple of my own songs, something that felt both eerie and special within the setting of the Wormwood Scrubs chapel. Coming away from prison, I was stirred both in thought and emotion, and led to really think about the conditions in which the prisoners are punished, and simultaneously expected to make rehabilitative progress. Prisons are so commonly overlooked, both socially and financially, straining the rehabilitative progress further and making the whole system seem frustratingly flawed. When performing, I played my song, ‘Inspiration’, the first in concept EP, ‘The Mood Board’, which includes songs which revolve around further titles such as Motivation, Achievement, Pride and Satisfaction. It intends to both inspire and motivate listeners in whatever they are doing. My experience with Prison Choir Project, in turn, inspired me to write the following song: 'Another chance to fly' Another Chance to Fly - about the imbalance between punishment and rehabilitation. Verse If you catch a little bird, just make sure you don’t clip its wings and If you keep it in a cage, at least don’t stop it when it sings, You say it learns a lesson when it’s you pulling the strings, So if you will not let it out, don’t stop the love from getting in. If you catch a little bird, at least don’t take the tune it sings, That tune is one thing it can keep when you’ve taken almost everything, You say it learns a lesson when melodies cannot escape, But how can you wish for harmony when the tune’s taken away? Chorus If that bird tries to escape, to break out of its cage, It beats its wings, does everything to try to fly away, But no matter what it does, it cannot take to the sky, Although it made mistakes Why does it mean that it should Never get another chance to fly? Verse You say you’ll set it free some day, but it’ll never fly again, ’Cause you have clipped its wings, it can’t take to the sky, soar through the air, You say it learns a lesson when it’s sitting behind bars, But no lesson is a good one when time’s the only thing to pass. You say you’ll set it free some day, but it’ll never sing again, ’Cause you have cut its vocal cords, taken the air out of its lungs, You say it learns a lesson when you take away its tune, But how can it learn a lesson when the teacher is you? Chorus If that bird tries to escape, to break out of its cage, It beats its wings, does everything to try to fly away, But no matter what it does, it cannot take to the sky, Although it made mistakes Why does it mean that it should Never get another chance to fly? Verse Now you say you’ve set it free but it has no feathers left, The life that now awaits it is a life without a nest, You say it learnt its lesson and that it passed the test, A good student behind bars but in the sky, it’s now hopeless. Chorus That little bird tried to escape, to break out of its cage, It beat its wings, it did everything to try to fly away, But no matter what it did, now it can’t take to the sky, Although it made mistakes, Why does it mean that it can Never get another chance to fly?  I'm a 24-year-old singer-songwriter who also plays bass for the band, Patience Please. My folk-acoustic style centres on lyrics, vocals and harmonies, aiming to deliver powerful messages through thoughtful songwriting. My latest self-released singles, Leave Molly mAlone and Inspiration, reflect the value of activism through music and songwriting. My key inspirations include Tracy Chapman, Eva Cassidy, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan for the way they manipulate lyrics. I busked on Grafton Street (Dublin) from September 2022-May 2025, and have been performing at festivals, gigs, concerts and open mics since the age of 11. I now perform both as a solo artist and as a bassist for the pop-rock band, Patience Please. I will release my concept album, The Mood Board, in the first half of 2026, and will showcase this at many further gigs.
I am also the founder of the ‘Leave Molly mAlone’ campaign, for which I harnessed my busking platform to advocate for gender equity, highlighting how the mistreatment of Dublin’s famous Molly Malone statue promotes sexist cultural norms. The campaign received global media attention, including coverage in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Telegraph, Good Morning Britain and RTÉ Prime Time TV. I navigated the media and collaborated with Dublin City Council to secure permanent statue modifications and improved female representation in culture. International Women’s Day marked the release of my version of ‘Molly Malone’, with two original verses in an ode to the campaign. I have also just been nominated for the Harper’s Bazaar ‘Women of the Year’ Awards 2025 for my campaign work.
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Thank you to everyone who has supported the prison choir project throughout the year - from the dedicated prison staff who make our work possible, to the professional musicians and volunteers who have shared their time and talent, and most especially to all the men whose commitment, courage, and voices bring these projects to life. Your generosity, enthusiasm, and hard work have made this a truly remarkable year. Rory Pilgrim, ‘Go Find Miracles’, 2025 July 2025 A short film about the making of Go Find Miracles, a new sound artwork by 2023 Turner Prize-nominated artist Rory Pilgrim for Waterloo station. The work has been developed in collaboration with HMP/YOI Portland and the Prison Choir Project, as well as the Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme (CCSaR) and the Feminist Library in Peckham. Visit the project page here. In collaboration with HMP/YOI Portland, The Feminist Library & The Prison Choir Project 14- 25 July 2025, Mon-Fri, 10am-5pmGo Find Miracles is a new sound artwork by 2023 Turner Prize-nominated artist Rory Pilgrim for Waterloo station commissioned by Art on the Underground. This new work emerges from Pilgrim’s long-term work with those affected by the criminal justice system. Recorded in two underground locations, with Go Find Miracles, Pilgrim asks how we go beneath the surface to imagine new structures of repair and possibility. The work has been developed in collaboration with HMP/YOI Portland and the Prison Choir Project, as well as the Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme (CCSaR) and the Feminist Library in Peckham. Go Find Miracles can be heard at Waterloo Underground station along the travelator connecting the Northern and Jubilee lines, between 14-25 July 2025. Rory Pilgrim works collaboratively and in dialogue with others, across music composition, performance, film, drawing and text, reflecting and redefining how we come together to shape social change. Go Find Miracles focuses on the role that the Isle of Portland, a small island in the English Channel, has played in shaping London through its quarries. Portland stone has been used to build many of London’s most iconic buildings, including the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, TfL’s historic headquarters – 55 Broadway, and Waterloo station itself. Trains to and from Portland’s closest station, Weymouth, arrive and depart from Waterloo – which acts as a gateway to the island, whose resources have built so much of the capital. The Isle of Portland is also the site of two prisons, including HMP/YOI Portland, and the former site of prison barge HMP Weare and the Bibby Stockholm which temporarily housed asylum seekers. The labour of the people imprisoned on the island has historically shaped its landscape, with the many stone quarries originally being worked by imprisoned people who were initially brought to Portland in 1848 to construct the 2.84-mile-long harbour breakwater. Expanding from Pilgrim’s long-term collaboration with communities on Portland and developed following a workshop at The Feminist Library in London, which used collections of intersectional feminist literature from the 1970s until the present day, Go Find Miracles explores the ways that the law impacts our lives and our environment. Reflecting on the idea of a miracle as an opening for change and a prayer as a sequence of connection through the words we share with each other, the artwork is structured around a call and response prayer. Go Find Miracles was recorded underground in a Portland stone quarry, amongst the layers in which deep time connects us with our modern world, and on the disused Jubilee line platform at Charing Cross London Underground station: bringing voices from Portland and London together. The sound work takes the form of a conversation, spoken reflections and poetry by Carina Murray and Holly Upton are accompanied by music composed by Pilgrim and sung by soloist Robyn Haddon, alumni of the Prison Choir Project, and a further choir of singers with whom Pilgrim has previously collaborated for projects including pink & green, 2024 and RAFTS, 2022. The lyrics and melodies of the work have partly been written together with men from HMP/YOI Portland. Constituting a prayer of call and response that ultimately traces a 10-minute loop without end, Go Find Miracles asks, if we break the loop, is it here we find space for miracles? Go Find Miracles can be heard alongside visual artworks by Pilgrim depicting songbirds carrying messages between London and Portland. These drawings are installed throughout Waterloo Underground station making visible the listening experience and the ripple of connection between the two places explored in the work. An expanded leaflet documenting the development of Go Find Miracles is available to collect from the station. A short film by 2025 Jarman award nominees, Other Cinemas, about the making of Go Find Miracles, will be available to view on art.tfl.gov.uk from 21 July 2025. Go Find Miracles is the third audio commission developed in collaboration with The Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Space’s at Risk programme (CCSaR) to spotlight and amplify grassroots organisations they have supported, and produce audio installations that can be heard across London Underground stations. Credits Collaborators: The Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk team, The Feminist Library, HMP/YOI Portland, Learners from HMP/YOI Portland & The Prison Choir Project Design: Wolfe Hall Production & facilitation: Elizabeth Graham & Rory Pilgrim Composition: Rory Pilgrim Speakers: Carina Murray & Holly Upton Sound recording & mixing: Lucas August Sound editing: Nada Smiljanic Singers: Adam Green, Darren, George, Marcello, Robyn Haddon, Todd Harris, Seraphina D’Arby and Marged Siôn TfL Colleagues: Fernando Soler & Lota Anyakora Recorded in an Albion Stone Ltd Portland stone mine on the Isle of Dorset, The Crypt Studio and on the disused Jubilee line platform at Charing Cross Underground station. read more.... 🎵 Meet the Creators 🎵 Today marks the second of our new #MeetTheCreators series, where we’ll be highlighting the individuals behind the music. These are the creative minds who generously share their time and talent to inspire change, build community, and bring the power of music to places often forgotten. We look forward to sharing their stories—and celebrating the vital role of the arts in rehabilitation and transformation.   "One Small Thing's commitment to systemic change for women and their children in the justice system, has inspired us to build Hope Street." A huge commendation to Edwina Grosvenor and the incredible team behind Hope Street — a groundbreaking residential community offering an alternative to custody for women and their children. Hope Street is pioneering a new approach to working with justice-involved women. Set within a healing, trauma-informed environment, it provides access to specialist support services that empower women to rebuild their lives — without being separated from their children. This compassionate, evidence-led model aims to drive long-term positive outcomes not just for women and their families, but for society as a whole. It's an inspiring blueprint for change that could be replicated across the UK. Innovative, humane, and deeply needed. Read more....... 🎵 Introducing: Meet the Creators 🎵 At the Prison Choir Project, we’re privileged to collaborate with some of the UK’s most exceptional musicians—artists who bring not just skill, but compassion and vision to our work within prisons. Today marks the launch of our new #MeetTheCreators series, where we’ll be highlighting the individuals behind the music. These are the creative minds who generously share their time and talent to inspire change, build community, and bring the power of music to places often forgotten. We look forward to sharing their stories—and celebrating the vital role of the arts in rehabilitation and transformation.
 Prison Choir Project singers to feature on a new sound artwork to be presented at Waterloo Station between 14-25 July 2025.  Pink and Green visit the prison, 2024, Polaroid, 8.8 × 10.7 cm Rory Pilgrim  As part of the programme celebrating 25 years of Art on the Underground, a new sound artwork by 2023 Turner prize nominated artist Rory Pilgrim will be presented at Waterloo station in July. Go Find Miracles has emerged from a forthcoming feature film, titled pink & green; a long-term project working with those affected by the criminal justice system and will feature singers that have been involved with the Prison Choir Project. The work will be heard at Waterloo Underground station along the travelator connecting the Northern and Jubilee lines, between 14-25 July 2025.
Rory Pilgrim works collaboratively and in dialogue with others, across music composition, performance, film, drawing and text, reflecting and redefining how we come together to shape social change. Go Find Miracles focuses on the role that the Isle of Portland, a small island in the English Channel, has played in shaping London through its quarries. Portland stone has been used to build many of London’s most iconic buildings, including the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, TfL’s historic headquarters - 55 Broadway, and Waterloo station itself. Trains to and from Portland’s closest station, Weymouth, arrive and depart from Waterloo – which acts as a gateway to the island, whose resources have built so much of the capital. The Isle of Portland is also the site of two prisons, HMP/YOI Portland and The Verne, and the former site of prison barge HMP Weare. The labour of the people imprisoned on the island has historically shaped its landscape, with the many stone quarries originally being worked by imprisoned people who were initially brought to Portland in 1848 to construct the 2.84-mile-long harbour breakwater. Expanding from Pilgrim’s long-term collaboration with communities on Portland, Go Find Miracles explores the ways that the law impacts our lives and our environment. Reflecting on the idea of a miracle as an opening for change and a prayer as a sequence of connection through the words we share with each other, the artwork will be structured around a call and response prayer. Go Find Miracles will be recorded underground in a Portland quarry, amongst the layers in which deep time connects us with our modern world, and on the disused Jubilee line platform at Charing Cross station: bringing voices from Portland and London together. The sound work will take the form of a conversation accompanied by music composed by Pilgrim and sung by soloist Robyn Haddon, alumni of the Prison Choir Project, and a further choir of singers with whom Pilgrim has collaborated for projects including pink & green, 2024 and RAFTS, 2022. The lyrics of the work have been written by men from HMP/YOI Portland and developed following a workshop at the Feminist Library, which used collections of intersectional feminist literature from the 1970s until the present day to reflect on the impact of the law, justice, and resources of repair. Constituting a prayer of call and response that ultimately traces a 10-minute loop without end, Go Find Miracles asks, if cycles of harm can be broken, if we break the loop, is it here we find space for miracles? Go Find Miracles will be heard alongside visual artworks by Pilgrim depicting songbirds carrying messages between London and Portland. These drawings will be installed throughout Waterloo station and will make visible the listening experience and the ripple of connection between the two places explored in the work. Go Find Miracles will also be accessible through a QR code on a poster campaign across the Underground, extending the connection of the work and those involved across London. An expanded leaflet documenting the development of Go Find Miracles will also be available to collect from the station. Art on the Underground’s audio commission series is developed as part of a new strand of collaborative, community art commissioning working with the Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme (CCSaR). This programme realises an annual sound commission developed through engagement with the CCSaR programme and the communities around Underground stations to spotlight the work of organisations who face structural barriers to sustaining space in the capital and to create and share resonances from them across the city. The work has been developed in collaboration with The Feminist Library in Peckham, who are a part of the CCSaR programme. About Art on the Underground Art on the Underground invites artists to create projects for London’s Underground that are seen by millions of people each day, changing the way people experience their city. Incorporating a range of artistic media - from painting, installation, sculpture, digital and performance, to prints and custom Tube map covers - the programme produces critically acclaimed projects that are accessible to all, and which draw together London’s diverse communities. Since its inception, Art on the Underground has presented commissions by UK-based and international artists including Jeremy Deller, Yayoi Kusama, Mark Wallinger, and Tania Bruguera, allowing the programme to remain at the forefront of contemporary debate on how art can shape public space. About Rory Pilgrim Rory Pilgrim (Bristol, 1988) works in a wide range of media including songwriting, composing music, film, music video, text, drawing and live performances. Centred on emancipatory concerns, Pilgrim aims to challenge the nature of how we come together, speak, listen and strive for social change through sharing and voicing personal experience. Strongly influenced by the origins of activist, feminist and socially engaged art, Pilgrim works with others through different methods of dialogue, collaboration and workshops. In an age of increasing technological interaction, Rory's work creates connections between activism, spirituality, music and how we form community locally and globally from both beyond and behind our screens. Recent Solo Shows include: Chisenhale Gallery (2024), Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd - Centraal Museum Utrecht (2024), WAMX, Turku (2022), Kunstverein Braunschweig (duo-2021), Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (2020), Between Bridges, Berlin (2019) Ming Studios, Boise (2019), Andriesse-Eyck Gallery, Amsterdam NL (2018) and South London Gallery (2018). In 2019, Pilgrim was the winner of the Prix de Rome and was in 2023 nominated for the Turner Prize. About pink & green pink & green is a forthcoming feature film, which follows an exhibition of the same name presented at Chisenhale Gallery from 17 May – 21 July, 2024. Returning to early forms of cinema as a magic lantern, Pilgrim transformed the gallery into a film yet to be inscribed on screen – with a screenplay brought to life through drawing, sound and light. The long-term project is produced by Elizabeth Graham, and the feature film produced by SMARTHOUSE, supported by De Verbeelding – a collaboration between the Mondriaan Fund and the Netherlands Film Fund. About the Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme The Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme (CCSaR) is the only GLA programme focussed on safeguarding existing spaces across London - protecting both their social and economic value. They provide expertise to help protect against threats to London’s cultural and community-led spaces, and directly support organisations to save spaces at risk. The Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme (CCSaR) is working with Art on the Underground on an innovative new project which will spotlight the grassroots organisations they have supported to produce audio installations that can be heard across London Underground stations. The intention of the project is to amplify and spotlight the work organisations do. We are thrilled to welcome Anna Owen to the Board of Trustees for the Prison Choir Project. Anna brings a wealth of experience, insight, and passion for the transformative power of music in rehabilitation and community engagement through her work at the BBC. We look forward to the inspiration and leadership she will bring to the PCP.  |
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