Shared History Fund grant announcement

We are thrilled to have been awarded £10,000 from the #SharedHistoryFund to mark the Centenary of Northern Ireland.

 

 

The Shared History Fund, which The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office, will support groups in marking the Centenary of Northern Ireland in 2021 in a thoughtful, inclusive and engaging way.

 

Speaking about the grant Chris Armstrong said: “We’re grateful to receive this support from the Northern Ireland Office and The National Lottery Heritage Fund which will enable us to develop a week-long series of talks, discussions and debates reflecting on the events of 100 years ago, how our constitutional relationship with the rest of the UK and Ireland has evolved and what the future might hold for Northern Ireland.”

 

In awarding grants, The National Lottery Heritage Fund prioritised those organisations which best demonstrated how they were inclusive of different audiences and interpretations of the past, in line with the Principles for Remembering.

 

These are a set of principles which The National Lottery Heritage Fund developed in partnership with the Community Relations Council in 2011, to help groups navigate difficult history and to ensure the stories told throughout the Decade of Centenaries were thoughtful and inclusive of a range of perspectives.

 

The projects funded are diverse and cover a wide range of subjects and key moments in Northern Ireland’s history, from discovering untold stories of our past, to

the development of different communities to our hopes for the Northern Ireland of the future.

 

Mukesh Sharma, Chair, Northern Ireland, The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:

 

“As a leading funder of heritage throughout the UK, we understand the central role that heritage plays in people’s lives and their communities. We also recognise that there are aspects of heritage that can be challenging.

 

“However, our experience in supporting partners to navigate difficult periods in our history throughout the Decade of Centenaries demonstrates that there is a way to engage with difficult heritage in a positive way. No one narrative is more important than another, and it’s important we create a space that allows a range of stories to be told.

 

“We’re delighted to be delivering this funding on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office and have supported projects which will not only mark the Centenary but will show how we can engage with difficult heritage going forward.”

 

 You can read more about the Shared History Fund here