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Funding to tell the story of 'ordinary people'

Full House Theatre A boy smiling and looking down towards a parrot-type bird being held by a man in a blue polo-shirt wearing dark glasses and smiling and looking at the birdFull House Theatre
One of the projects already funded helped co-create a touring exhibition telling the story of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Central Bedfordshire

New grants have become available to "uncover forgotten or overlooked stories that have been at the heart of working class communities".

The Historic England project has already revealed the industrial heritage of Ipswich and celebrated the brick-making history of Eye in Cambridgeshire.

The heritage body now wants to focus on rural and coastal communities across the East of England.

Chief executive Duncan Wilson said: "Heritage is all around, it's the pubs, factories, football clubs and council estates where most people have lived, worked and played."

"This programme is all about funding community-led projects that will recognise and celebrate the lives of ordinary people," he said.

Memories of Eye Facebook page Black and white photo of boys and men lined up in four rows at Dogsthorpe brickworks, Peterborough, in about 1900, all wearing flat capsMemories of Eye Facebook page
Digging Down, Building Up told the stories of the brick work industry of Eye, alongside its rural heritage
Dale McKean A grandfather in an orange t-shirt and granddaughter in a red t-shirt learning smiling as they learn how to make willow lanterns as in Eye, PeterboroughDale McKean
Projects brought generations together to try their hand at activities and a heritage tour of Eye was also created

The Everyday Heritage grant programme has funded more than 100 projects since it was launched in 2022, awarding £1.8m in grants.

These include Digging Down, Building Up, which told the stories of the men and women living and working in the bricking making and farming industries of Eye, a few miles from Peterborough.

Westminster Cathedral, London's Roman Catholic cathedral, was among the buildings which contain Eye's bricks and the industry continued until 1990.

The "overlooked industrial heritage of Ipswich" focused on the people who worked in the town's factories in The Work Furnace.

Eastern Angles Theatre Company recorded the memories of more than 1,000 men and women, resulting in the creation of an audio heritage trail.

The Seagull CIC Lowestoft Three actors against a black background looking through a lit-up rectangular frame performing in a play about a Lowestoft-based 1970s paranormal magazineThe Seagull CIC Lowestoft
Another funded project was The Lantern, which brought people together to create a drama celebrating a Lowestoft-produced paranormal magazine of the 1970s

A touring exhibition telling the story of Gypsy, Roman and Traveller communities living in Greensand Country in Central Bedfordshire was the result of another grant.

It was based along the Greensand Ridge, a band of higher ground stretching from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire in the west to Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, in the east.

Heritage minister Sir Chris Bryant said the programme "helps to uncover forgotten or overlooked stories that have been at the heart of working class communities so that they can be properly celebrated by future generations".

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