Kiveton Park Youth Centre has received £16,300 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project based in the south of Rotherham with support from Rotherham Integrated Youth Support Services (IYSS), Wentworth Valley, Rother Valley South and Rother Valley West Area Assembly Teams and the National Coal Mining Museum for England.

The project is called Raising Aspirations: The Miner’s Strike Through the Eyes of Women, will be led by young people from the local community and focus on how the lives of some women positively changed during the miner’s strike during 1984/85. Young people will use multimedia to capture stories of local women whose lives changed from that of a traditional housewife, to bread winners, campaigners, political activists and those who went back into education.  The project starts during May 2014 and work will continue until the project concludes with showings of the final DVD during January 2015.

Rotherham has a rich mining heritage, and the National Coal Mining Museum for England (NCMME) will work with youth workers and young people to enable them to gather information as part of the project. Workshops will look at collecting oral histories, enabling local young people to talk to local women of different generations asking what life was like for them before, during and after the strike. Such skills should enable the young people to grow in confidence in talking to others, and will nurture better relationships between the different generations in the community. It is also hoped that young women involved in the project will gain increased aspirations for their own futures.

Through the partnership with NCMME, young people will develop skills in research, script writing, interviewing, camera techniques; whilst gaining a valuable insight into the cultural heritage and impact of mining within their own communities and the role of women within this industry.

Commenting on the award, Sarah Bellamy from Rotherham Integrated Youth Services said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and excited by the prospect of working with local young people supporting them to be active citizens with pride in their local community and mining heritage.”

Further information

Sarah Bellamy, Voice & Influence Youth Worker on 01909 773 663 or sarah.bellamy@rotherham.gov.uk.