A Lasting Difference for Heritage and People: HLF and Sporting Stories

Eithne Nightingale& Jo Reilly

• HLF funded first oral history project in 1998

• Awarded over £80 million to more than 3100 projects with a strong oral history focus

• 77% led by community and voluntary groups

Oral History

Why do we fund oral history?Why do we fund oral history?

•Fills gaps in historical evidence & secures history at risk•Uncovers hidden histories of the marginalised

“Little is known about the history of deaf tennis and the educational, cultural, community and sign

language influences that have all played a big role in deaf people playing tennis since early this century.”

Mr Whalley, two-time National Deaf Tennis

Championships Men’s Single winner

Why do we fund oral history?Why do we fund oral history?

• Documents changes in local industry, agriculture or everyday practices such as sporting culture

• Encourages intergenerational & intercultural understanding

• Enriches understanding and encourages empathy• Challenges stereotypes• Contributes to a sense of well being, place and identity• Enlivens other heritage – galleries, websites• Empowers local communities

Oral History projects – huge range

• Our Green Street in Newham, London• Keeping the Hippodrome Story Alive in Falkirk• Memories of Italian community in the UK• 50 years of mental health heritage in Richmond• Travellers in Scotland• Immigration to Greater Pollock Area of Glasgow• LGBT Jewish communities• South Asians at Oxford University• Steel workers in Rotherham

Our Heritage grant: History of British Deaf Tennis

William Smith, GB Deaf

tennis player, 1935-1957  

• Mainly deaf volunteers from the British Deaf Association

• Researched archives and memorabilia from 1915

• 100 recordings in Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum

• DVD, education resource, exhibition seen by 10,000

Young Roots grant: Tribal: Social, historical impact of boxing

Explored relationship of boxing to crime, ethnic identity, youth clubs and East End entertainment scene

Tribal: Social, historical impact of boxing

• Young people interviewed older members of the Geezer Club & London Ex-Boxers Association

after oral history training by The

• Tours of boxing heritage sites and film research

• Outputs include 10 short films, scripted dramatisations, oral history based documentaries and music videos

Bishopsgate Institute

Our Heritage grant: Ipswich Town Football Archive

Our Heritage grant: Ipswich Town Football Archive

• Catalogued archive of programmes, trophies, documents, images, audio recordings and memorabilia

• Trained volunteers carried out oral histories work with Suffolk residents, including people in sheltered housing

• Existing and new oral histories digitised and made available online

• Permanent exhibition created in IFTC stadium.

Young Roots grant: Sporting Sisters: Stories of Muslim Women in Sport

• Young women (16 yrs +) explored hidden history of Muslim women’s participation since 1948

• Training by London Metropolitan University and link with Women’s Library

• 40 oral history interviews

Our Heritage grant: No Game for Girls: A history of women’s football in the First World War

No Game for Girls: A history of women’s football in the FWW

• Social history of women who worked in munitions factories and set up football teams in Coventry

• Anti-Women’s Football Company that led to an FA ban for 50 years

• Draws on archives but also collects ‘stories from families for a digital archive.’

• Outputs – touring exhibition, documentary film, online social media, seminars and a football match

A lasting difference for heritage and people

HLF will award £375m a

year in new grants through

to 2018

But there is a competitive funding

environment

Good practice guidance to help

Planning and managing your oral history Planning and managing your oral history project – relate to project – relate to HLF strategic objectives

Heritage outcomes

•Better managed

•In better condition

•Better interpreted and explained

•Identified/recorded e.g. intangible heritage at risk

Outcomes for people

•Learnt about heritage

•Developed skills

•Changed attitudes and behaviour

•Had an enjoyable experience

•Volunteered time

Planning and managing your oral history Planning and managing your oral history project – relate to project – relate to HLF strategic objectives (2)

Outcomes for community/society•Environmental impacts will be reduced•More people and a wider range of people will have engaged with heritage•Organisations will be more resilient•Local economies will be boosted•Local areas/communities will be a better place to live, work or visit

How does it relate to HLF strategic outcomes?

‘heritage better identified or recorded’ e.g. the history of Rugby League

‘heritage better interpreted and explained’ e.g. new online exhibition of disabled people’s involvement in sport shared appreciated

Trainees or volunteers may have ‘developed skills’ in oral history

Different communities working on the use of a sporting venue by different clubs may change ‘attitudes or behaviour’ to one another

Recruiting a diverse range of volunteers may result in

‘new and a wider range of people’ exploring heritage for the first time.

Planning and managing oral history projectsPlanning and managing oral history projects

What is the theme – how prescriptive?

Is there an interest or demand? - research into other projects

and on BL sound archive- does it fill a gap?- show evidence of interest

beyond the project team

Recruiting interviewers

• Who will interview people – oral historians or volunteers?

• What background and experience do they need?

• How relevant is the background - gender, class, ethnicity?

• Will interpretation or translation be required?

• What training and mentoring is needed?

Recruiting participants

Need to specify-How to recruit people to be interviewed?-Interviews – number, length-Number of summaries -Number of transcriptions

-Will interviewees have special needs – people with disabilities, language needs?

-Will you have all the interview consent agreements in place?

Right equipment and software

• Audio or video? – advantages and disadvantages

• Get up to date advice e.g. from Oral History Society

• Need to record in non compressed.WAV files

• Use of stereo and external microphones

• Need to be backed up onto more than one hard drive and copies made

• Copy to MP3 for transcribing

Interview material

•Where will it be deposited and will it be accessible?

•Who is best placed to keep it - community or local archive, sports club, museum or library?

•If external do you have a deposit agreement?

•If kept internally do you have the necessary skills?

•Are archiving costs in the budget?

The importance of partnerships

• To engage with the client group• To bring in specialist expertise – Oral History Society,

universities, NGOs, museums, libraries and archives• To deposit material – museums, archives• Need evidence of partnerships

- Letters of support

- Written letters of agreement on roles• Other partners might include

– Artists and multi-media specialists– Communities - letting people know when

testimonies are used

Public outputs - engagement with oral histories

•Exhibition – link with objects, photographs and archive material•Gallery installations •Sports events•Theatre performances•Music performances•Educational materials•Walking tour•App

Costs

• Don’t underestimate – oral history is time intensive• Training and mentoring: 3 – 5 days?• Oral historian and/or volunteer costs – need to show

public benefit• Equipment and software• Interpreting• Translation• Transcription• Archiving possibly by a partner• Public outputs

General grants programmes

Heritage Grants

– grants £100k upwards

Our Heritage– grants £10 - £100k

Sharing Heritage– grants £3 – £10k

Heritage Lottery Fund

7 Holbein Place

London SW1W 8NR

Telephone: 020 7591 6000

Textphone: 020 7591 6255

www.hlf.org.uk

@heritagelottery