‘Past Futures’ is an 18 month programme funded by The National Heritage Lottery Fund to broaden the range of voices telling the history of the Island.
The ambition is to uncover, capture and record the rich cultural heritage of the Island to help Islanders reflect on their identity. The project benefits from having a consultant dedicated to supporting potential applicants through the process who will also look to identify new stories and communities of people. There will also be a digital consultant to ensure applicants have fully developed the digital needs of their proposal.
Director of Creative Island, Gavin Stride shared “This is exactly what we were hoping for with Creative Island. That we would be able to collectively make the case for the Isle of Wight and attract new resources to benefit the widest possible range of voices.”
This programme establishes a small, grassroots fund to build confidence, celebrate, and shift the perception of the people and history of the Isle of Wight, focusing on the towns, villages, workplaces, customs and traditions that shape us as a distinctive set of communities.
Jacqui Scott, Chief Executive of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Foundation added “We hope that the projects funded will create a broader audience for the Island’s heritage, and that the programme will demonstrate how beneficial heritage projects can be in enabling our communities to flourish. We are delighted that National Lottery Heritage Fund have focused these funds on such a unique part of our region.”
The programme aims to increase the knowledge, confidence and skills of the museum and wider heritage sector through a programme of capacity building and small grants of £5k to £10k, to support a diverse range of community partners to reflect the Island’s heritage in their own, unique ways. The programme will engage new audiences thus strengthening identity, pride and confidence in ourselves. Kelly Wetherick, who has been appointed the role of the Programme Lead, will be leading in outreach, capacity building, and enabling the successful delivery on the creation of compelling projects.
