Young people are being invited to apply for funding to explore what their heritage means to them by the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Young Roots programme.
The programme offers grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 for young people to work with organisations to explore and share their heritage.
Young people can get as creative as they like in interpreting what heritage means to them - previous projects have organised masquerade balls, photography exhibitions, fashion shows and even a circus performance.
The programme is calling for 11 to 25-year-olds to come up with a creative idea and join up with a heritage and youth organisation – anything from a local museum, school or football club.
Young Roots projects are about making a real difference to the lives of young people, helping them understand more about their favourite topics and to learn valuable skills along the way.
Examples of projects in Yorkshire and the Humber include:
- Young people from a local school have been investigating the history of film in Bradford using museum and archive collections as well as web and print resources. They gained exclusive behind-the-scenes access to a number of heritage sites and filming locations and produced a 15 minute documentary and app showcasing their findings.
http://bradford-city-of-film.com/
- Young people from the Polish community in Huddersfield worked closely with Kirklees Community Heritage to learn interviewing, research, archiving and interpreting skills in order to uncover the various histories of Polish people living in Kirklees between 1947 and 2012. The project has brought together different groups to learn about and share this hidden heritage through research, exhibitions and a film.
Katharine Boardman, Development Officer of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: “Young Roots is all about helping young people to explore something that is important to them, from the town that they are from to their hobbies and favourite sports clubs.
"We’d love to hear from groups in Yorkshire and the Humber who want to know more about their favourite topic and have inventive ways of bringing this story to life. Please get in touch with us today.”
A series of videos have been posted to YouTube to help people learn more about the Young Roots programme:
Young people can apply for funding at any time and more information about the programme, including application details, can be found here.