[C]umbria Development Education Centre (CDEC) is celebrating receiving an Awards for All grant to extend the conversation of its Hidden Stories Shared Lives project with Cumbria’s communities. The Big Lottery Fund has given this grant through Awards for All to enable CDEC to take the Hidden Stories exhibition and workshop to 12 Cumbrian venues over the next six months.
Communities will have the opportunity to learn more about those who now live in Cumbria but were born outside the UK, but also explore their own journeys and identity.
Laura Goad, Director of CDEC, remarked; “This is fabulous news for the communities of Cumbria. The original Hidden Stories project had such a strong following and heart, and collected a huge number of fascinating and different stories from our communities, which we want to continue to share and learn from. The Awards for All grant, made possible by the National Lottery players, will allow us to do just that – so thank you!”
The grant is enabling CDEC to be part of the first ever Kendal Unity Festival, which is taking place on Saturday 23 June. The exhibition and workshop will be held at the Unitarian Chapel in the town, with the exhibition being on display all day. The workshop will take place at 2pm and last an hour – so please come along (no need to book!)!
The original Hidden Stories Shared Lives project interviewed 50 people who were born outside the UK but now live in Cumbria. It was funded by The Heritage Lottery fund and was a project that created a partnership between CDEC, Awaz Cumbria, South Lakeland District Council and the South Lakeland Diversity and Equality Partnership.
The interviews collected will be available in local studies centres and at the Cumbria Archives Centre in Carlisle, with themed snippets already available to listen to at www.Hidden-Stories.co.uk and through the exhibition itself too. This project also spawned a teacher pack for schools and a workshop to help the public consider their stories and their attitudes to other people’s journeys. The workshop that accompanies the exhibition explores the meaning of home, belonging, community and identity.
