Mandela8 are delighted to have been awarded £95k from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to establish and deliver a major oral history programme ensuring the history and stories of community activists in Toxteth and their first-hand memories of anti-apartheid struggles are told.
The project will record the memories of Princes Park, collect photos and memorabilia and deliver a range of engagement activities with people of all ages to ensure we have a long lasting digital educational resource for many years to come.
The project will create employment opportunities and develop 15 heritage research volunteers with support and training from National Museums Liverpool. 15 young people will also be provided with digital skills training to support recording of heritage stories.
Sonia Bassey, MBE Mandela8 Chair said:
“We are excited to get started with this project that will leave a lasting legacy for our community so they continue to know the valuable contribution activists in communities made to society and social justice long after we are gone”.
“We are delighted with the additional funding secured for the engagement programme for the Nelson Mandela memorial. It will be a truly inclusive centrepiece of the park, ensuring his legacy, values and ideals are formally marked, promoting social and racial understanding, tolerance and tackling issues around cultural diversity.”
David Renwick, Director of England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:
“Communities are at the heart of the projects we invest in, and we are proud to be supporting Mandela8 in their project to remember and record important stories of anti-apartheid struggles. The project not only ensures that these memories will be safeguarded, but also share them with the next generation of the community.”
About Mandela8
Mandela8 is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Its initial vision is to see a permanent artwork that functions as an unique performance, conversation and contemplation space established at a Toxteth Liverpool 8 heritage site, to celebrate, commemorate and pursue the legacy of Nelson Mandela’s outstanding achievement for humanity.
The project will help to conserve and widely share existing historical and contemporary heritage, support community development and cohesion, produce a series of creative commissions and collaborations, with widespread community and educational engagement and participation.
Visit www.mandela8.org.uk
