HIDDEN HISTORIES - Pride of Our Heritage...

Thank you for showing an interest in the HH project.
Below is a more detailed overview of project’s aims and what the programme actually consist of:

Hidden Histories is a project designed to address the needs of the youth within the black community (males in particular) who seem to be facing a major identity crisis.  As young and  often fatherless men without positive male role-models are trying to ‘find’ themselves in a society that they feel disaffected from we witness our  community struggle to cope with violent crimes on the rise and more and more young men not being accommodated in compulsory education, and eventually ending up on the receiving end of the judicial system. The need for alternative approaches to tackle the problems we face as a community is essential for the redirection of our young people and the safeguarding of the youth of our future generations.This form of interaction with African heritage is crucial as it has the power to break down people’s negative stereotypes and perceptions of Africa and people of African descent. The depiction of Africa presented by western media often tends to be of a shackled and weak people, with no attention given to their strong and proud heritage. For this reason I feel it is important to emphasize the fact the HH project is not exclusive to young black males but open to any young person who would benefit from having a wider knowledge of Black History (especially within a UK context).

This project works with young people to examine the journey of West Africans, looking at the peoples, their rich heritage, culture and traditions as well as the impact of slavery and their journey to arrive in Britain. Avoiding the common trap of focusing exclusively on slavery and the slave trade, the project covers both negative and positive aspects of African and Caribbean people’s experiences over the centuries of living in the UK. Leading figures from the worlds of business and academia work with the group to explore thoughts and interpretations on the past present and future of black people in Britain. The learners on the course work with the volunteers to complete the Youth Achievement Awards, while the volunteers themselves have the opportunity to undertake Vocationally Related Qualification in Community Volunteering (V.R.Q’s) in Community Volunteering this means that as well as the excellent learning available, everybody gets some tangible rewards that they can take with them on their next steps. The course is free but we do expect a serious commitment in terms of punctuality and attendance from the participants (as there are many benefits available to them by being involved in such a dynamic youth led project); we do not encourage YP to take this opportunity for granted. Previous rounds of the course has seen YP’s participation recognized by the Millennium Volunteers scheme and the award ceremony hosted by Ground Up Development usually scheduled in October (Black History Month UK). We are currently working towards accrediting the course and other ways of celebrate the participants achievements.

The Programme…

The programme is made up of various heritage related workshops, creative workshops (including drama, spoken word), team building activities, film and video production workshops and site visits to heritage establishments such as the Black Cultural Archives and various museums in London. Short seminars and presentations from some of the most notorious black history scholars in this country including: the likes of...

The aim is to bring together young people within London (especially young black males) and teach them the importance of embracing their heritage as a means of advancing themselves and being a progressive element in their local community. They’re are enjoyable and youth orientated as well as educational, with much of the content of the programmes being devised by the YP themselves. The involvement and commitment to the project form the YP perspective is imperative to the success of the programme, but with the level of expertise of the youth workers on board and their genuine passion to service the needs of these young people we are confident that we can sustain there interest long enough to pull it off!

Supported by: The Heritage Lottery Fund, and V

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