Eventus is a Sheffield-based cultural development agency that uses the arts to make a difference to people and places. They work with people in former industrial communities to explore themes such as heritage and community identity.

The village of Beighton is on the outskirts of Sheffield and has a population of around 4,700. It has a rich mining and farming heritage and forms part of the earliest working mine area of the South Yorkshire coalfield. The decline and closure of the pits led to high levels of unemployment and loss of skills in the village, negatively impacting upon how communities felt about the local area.

Eventus worked with a team of Beighton residents to research and record the heritage of the village. The residents carried out oral history interviews and created a digital archive of local photographs and films. A range of activities brought people of all ages together to share memories. These included six themed archiving days, a fête and creative writing workshops.

Residents created a website to host the Beighton community archive. They also produced a book, a schools resource pack and a heritage trail leaflet that drew on the information and images they had collected.

The project resulted in a renewed sense of community identity and pride in the heritage of the village. It also provided employment opportunities – following a local recruitment campaign, 10 residents were employed and trained to work on the oral histories. Some of these residents were long-term unemployed or disabled people who used the project as a means to return to work.