Applicant: Cathedral Community Services
Location: Falls Ward, West Belfast, NI
Grant awarded: £30,000
Grant programme: Your Heritage
Heritage area: Libraries and archives
Benefits: Community involvement in recording of and celebration of heritage
Key words: access, recording, community groups, learning/education opportunities, oral history, volunteers.
Background to the project
The idea for the Century of St Peter’s project emerged from an oral history project and book entitled Yarn Spinning, which took a light-hearted look at local stories. It was initiated by a local charity, Cathedral Community Services (CCS). Because Yarn Spinning generated so much enthusiasm locally, CCS decided to follow it up with a larger, more comprehensive history of the area. The charity was keen to record the stories of local pensioners before they were lost forever.
What did the project involve?
The eight-month long project began in January, 2002. It was led by a full-time project co-ordinator/oral history worker. She was assisted by a part-time research assistant, the charity’s three staff and over 50 volunteers.
The project focused on the origins and development of the parish from its role as a centre for cotton production in the eighteenth century, through the expansion of the local linen industry in the nineteenth century, up to the post-ceasefire society of today. The project consisted of documentary research, supplemented by oral history interviews with both past and present inhabitants of the parish. The interviews were carried out by the oral history worker and by the volunteers.
The project pulled some of the information together into a book entitled Twin Spire Life, which focused on the period between 1930 and 1969, just before the Troubles began in Northern Ireland. It was illustrated with old photos and to date, over 1800 copies of the book have been sold.
What difference did the project make?
The project enabled the local community to be involved in a very direct way in the recording and celebration of their history. 90% of the charity’s volunteers live locally and they learnt a great deal from the project. Everyone involved – the volunteers, the pensioners and the schoolchildren - gained a much greater appreciation and understanding of the district’s history than might otherwise have been the case.
How did the project meet our criteria?
The project met all of HLF’s key priorities at the time the grant was awarded. It increased understanding and enjoyment of heritage by involving the community. It helped to care for and protect heritage. It gave people a better opportunity to experience heritage by improving access to it. It was clear that there was a demonstrable demand for the project and its outputs. The project was well thought-out and HLF felt it would involve work of high quality. HLF was also convinced that the management of the project would be sound both during and after completion. The project’s success in meeting its aims would be measurable. Finally, costs were supportable and the project was felt to offer good value for money.
Useful tips
Originally, it had hoped to start the project in September, 2001, but, in the event, it was not possible to begin the project until January, 2002. This only left eight months for the production of the book. While CCS met this deadline, it did so only with the extra unpaid effort of all those involved in the project, who put in countless hours of overtime in order to complete it on time. More time should have been scheduled for the project, to allow for delays and for the work involved. Moreover, if CCS was to carry out such a project again, it would employ more staff on it. CCS feels that, with hindsight, it should have spent more time researching costs and obtaining quotes.
Due to lack of both time and resources, plans for a CDRom and a website had to be abandoned, although CCS still hopes that it may be possible to obtain further funding to produce these in future. It believes that a website is very useful for a project such as this, because it’s a way of getting feedback on what is produced, and of generating interest in the project. In a nutshell, CCS would advise anyone considering a similar project to research costs thoroughly, to be realistic in their ambitions, to ensure that estimates of the number of staff needed for the project are realistic, and to allow for unforeseen delays in the timetabling of the scheme.