Project activities

This two-year project aims to:

• Research and collate personal narratives / oral histories of former miners of African Caribbean heritage, from across the UK with the valuable support of volunteers from across the UK.

• Through partnership work, help to incorporate elements of former black miners’ narratives / oral histories for public access (example formats: quotes, photos, portraits and artefacts) into various mining heritage sites / museums such as: the National Coal Mining Museum for England UK, (Wakefield, Yorkshire), Bilsthorpe Mining Museum (Nottinghamshire), Gedling Country Park Heritage Centre, (proposed in Nottinghamshire), Big Pit National Coal Mining Museum , Blaenafon, Torfaen (South Wales) and the National Mining Museum, Midlothian (Scotland).

• Produce a documentary video about the narratives of the coal miners of African heritage project for public viewing.

• Offer oral history workshops, presenting, interviewing and video production training for volunteers.

• Offer creative learning workshops in coal art crafts as well as group activities understanding sustainable energy and ecology. Workshops are aimed at young and older people with sessions facilitated by professional artists / scientists.

• Create an archive of former black miners’ narratives (i.e. scripts, images, audio, photographs, images, video links and database) for public access and collaborative development.

• Create an exciting and unique touring, photographic exhibition of former black miners to be displayed at mining museums and various venues around the UK. The exhibition will be made available for hire to schools, educational and heritage organisations and community groups (local and national). The exhibition will feature rare mining artefacts, images, research information and oral histories collated by volunteer ex-miners and project participants.

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Project outcomes

Outcomes for heritage:

Experiences of coal miners from across the East Midlands and the UK will be better identified, recorded, interpreted and explained. The research and new knowledge gained, will be available through an online archive linked to local and national mining heritage sites public access, ensuring a more balanced, richer, historical discourse.

Outcomes for people:

Volunteers from diverse groups, both young and more senior as well as volunteer former miners, will have access to creative learning activities such as: coal art (sculpture), media skills training, publishing experience, project management, planning, exhibition curating and project management.

In addition, volunteers will experience life skills such as: teambuilding, self-confidence strategies, organisational and speaking / presenting skills. The project will also help improve national attitudes and behaviours towards collective contributions made by diverse groups in the history of UK industry.

A wider range of people, from different geographical areas around the UK, will have fresh opportunities to engage in mining heritage, as it will be more inclusive, modern in output and richer in content.