IAA Project type: Networking grant

Duration of project: October 2023 to October 2024 

Partner organisation: Valance House Museum

MOLA staff leading IAA grant: Cat Gibbs

Individual partners: Leeanne Westwood and Stacey Hickling  

Project aims

There are limited opportunities for young people from diverse and underrepresented communities to engage with their local history and heritage professionals in a way that is co-created by and for them. While there are several heritage groups in the area, none are open to, or targeted at, local young people. 

The key aims for this project were: 

  • Engaging young people with their local heritage, developing key life skills and increasing wellbeing.  

  • Building on existing contacts and reaching out to new heritage and youth organisations to create a heritage network. 

  • Establish an active and inclusive youth heritage group (YHG) for the area, supported and maintained by the network, to continue a legacy of placemaking. 

Audiences

  • Young people from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham 

  • Local youth focused organisations 

  • Local heritage organisations interested in engaging younger members.

The project

This project aimed to provide a legacy to the community excavation at Valence House in 2022, which demonstrated an appetite for meaningful and practical youth engagement with local heritage. 

We reached out to local youth and heritage organisations to create a network to support young people aged 14-18, to empower them to develop, co-ordinate and establish an active and inclusive Youth Heritage Group (YHG) for the area. 

The network aimed to identify barriers to current heritage engagement activities, enabling the YHG to explore the legacy of MOLA and Valence House projects, taking an active part in the development, interpretation and advocacy for their local heritage with the overall aim of raising pride in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. 

Through co-designed workshops, young participants designed and created a short film, which was presented at an end of project celebration event. These activities helped the young participants develop key life skills including team working, time management, problem solving and critical and creative thinking, and improve wellbeing. 

Project impacts

  • New opportunities for heritage involvement outside of schools and academia 

  • Upskilling, socialising and producing new knowledge 

  • Increased wellbeing and sense of place and pride. 

Unfortunately, we were unable to create a network with other youth and heritage organisations. While every effort was made to reach out, there was very little response. It is assumed that the requirement to undertake this extra work on a voluntary basis is too great of a barrier to overcome. 

Without the heritage network to support, we weren't able to set up a Youth Heritage Group at this time. However, the young participants, and their friends and families, enjoyed being involved with the project and are keen to engage with their local history. 

“I learnt new discoveries, I heard interesting facts about the Manor House and the storeroom, and we successfully made successful films, and I did perfect voiceover with my sister”  

“My family really enjoyed themselves and it was very nice seeing my brother smiling and enjoying everything”  

“I liked it because I learnt new things in Valence House, and it was very interesting”  

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