Community projects
Heritage Works' projects will engage with the local community. Dereliction contributes to a feeling of deprivation; restored buildings brought back into use add to the quality of life of those who use them or live and work near them. Historic buildings contribute to a sense of place and restoration contributes to local distinctiveness. Through education and outreach programmes the Trust will help to engender civic pride and secure local ownership of regeneration initiatives. Programmes will also contribute to wider education and employment agendas, through capacity building, skills training provision and volunteering opportunities. Heritage Works' engagement with communities will follow the model developed in the Skills, Schools, Stories projected, initiated by Ancoats BPT.
Skills, Schools, Stories
'Skills, Schools & Stories' was developed as an integrated programme of activities providing opportunities for people of all ages to get involved in the restoration of Murrays' Mills and the regeneration of the Ancoats area of Manchester. The project had a total cost of £150,000 and was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, with private sector sponsorship and 'contributions in kind' from volunteers. A Community Development Officer was employed to develop and implement the programme. The project was completed in summer 2007.
Skills
Bricklaying workshop A series of open days enabled young people to witness construction skills, especially the specialist conservation techniques being employed in the Murrays' restoration project. The target audience was 14 to 19 year olds. Feedback from the training sessions, which were supervised by Wates Construction's Training Manager, was very positive. Groups that particularly benefited included students from the Buzz Pupil Referral Unit in Gorton and participants from the Manchester Young Offending Team. |
Schools
Workshop for schoolchildren A teachers' resource pack has been distributed free of charge
to all Manchester primary schools. The CD ROM enables Key Stage
2 pupils to learn more about the heritage of their local area,
with cross-curricular activities to complement the national curriculum
in arts, humanities and ICT subjects. Ten local primary schools
participated in a series of site visits and school-based art,
drama and story-telling workshops, with over 300 children aged
between 6 and 10 being able to participate. |
Stories
Ancoats women on a day out This part of the programme involved recording the memories and memorabilia of older residents and former residents of the Ancoats area. Subtitled 'All Work and No Play?', the archive is intended to celebrate the great sense of community in Ancoats and to rekindle that community spirit through intergenerational activities and celebrations. A group of volunteers completed a programme of training in interviewing techniques and photograph scanning at the North West Sound Archive. They identified people to interview and visited them in their homes. Over forty recordings have been transcribed for a publication. Some have been used to support exhibitions about Ancoats life, as part of the Skills, Schools and Stories project and in Manchester galleries. As a celebration of the project, and a keepsake for those who took part, Heritage Works has published an "Ancoats Scrapbook: All Work and No Play?". The book features quotes and photos from the interviewees, ranging in subject from swimming in canals, to working conditions in the mills, to days out to Blackpool. Contact Heritage Works on 0161 278 1755 or email info@heritageworks.co.uk, to order a copy or view it online. |