Historic England has announced it will be funding 56 creative projects that honour the heritage of working-class England.

Historic England received over 380 applications following an open call in September 2023. The 56 successful applications are community-led projects that aim to preserve the diverse stories of working class people.

The move follows the success of the first round of Everyday Heritage Grants which was awarded in 2022.

With an onus on community and connection, local people will be encouraged to tell their stories and engage with their local heritage. Buildings, historic sites and local areas will be central to each case.

The projects will reveal the often unheard stories of people and places at the heart of our history, such as 40 years of tales from people working in London’s Chinatown, the history of drag in the “Pink Triangle” area of Newcastle and the untold histories of St Agnes Place in Kennington.

Sean Curran, head of inclusion at Historic England, said: “The real danger is that it’s easy to overlook working-class stories. There’s the idea of working-class lives and stories being a bit more ephemeral, maybe – more based on story-telling traditions and the kind of things people don’t necessarily keep. It’s not that the stories aren’t there but we can take them for granted, which is where the risk of loss comes from.”

With a funding pot of £875,000, Historic England will award between £6,800 to £25,000 per individual project.

A third round of Everyday Heritage Grants will run in the summer of 2024.

Case studies of the last few rounds of the programme can be found hereand here.

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FROM THE ARCHIVE
Read our interview about inclusivity in museums with Tony Butler here.