Freelance heritage worker

Background to the New Parks in the Making project

We have been awarded funding by Historic England to run a project with young people in New Parks about the heritage of the area.

New Parks is physically and culturally very much on the city’s outside, overlooked and passed through. However, on the estate there are buildings and spaces around which a local identity and sense of community are centred: the Aikman Avenue parade of shops; the library; the Social Club; St Aidan’s Church; Spinney Park; the Boys Club; Team Hub and New College.

One of these valued but overlooked spaces will be celebrated with a place marker and an accompanying research process through the New Parks in the Making project. This will be a much needed celebration of a community’s history as chosen and researched by young people from that community. An accompanying exhibition documenting the process of the project will be displayed in a community space such as New Parks Library.

Project delivery

The heritage worker will:

• Plan and deliver weekly youth work sessions on community and social history in partnership with an arts worker, with enough flexibility so as to be guided by the young people taking part. Exact days, times, frequency and length of the sessions will be agreed with the project manager.
• Conduct independent research into New Parks away from these weekly sessions to inform and guide the project.
• Record the progress of the project to support our funder’s evaluation and reporting requirements and to contribute to the accompanying exhibition.

The contract corresponds to approximately 90 hours.