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William Wilberforce Monument Fund Awarded Heritage Lottery Fund Grant!

11/6/2016

We are thrilled to announce that the William Wilberforce Monument Fund has been awarded a grant of £39,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are now able to begin exploring the stories of people of African descent in Hull and East Yorkshire from the Wilberforce era of the 1750s until 2007.

About the Project
The project is organised by the William Wilberforce Monument Fund which was established in 2013 to promote an awareness of the cultural and historic importance of the Wilberforce legacy in the context of past and modern day slavery. Our main objective was to raise funds to light the Wilberforce monument in time for the Hull UK City of Culture 2017. This project aims to be part of our educational remit to explore the stories of people of African descent in Hull and East Yorkshire from the Wilberforce era of the 1750s until 2007. To understand what we mean by people of African descent please click HERE.

This project is unique to this area and connects with this region’s strong historical association with William Wilberforce and the anti-slavery movement. It intends to demonstrate that an African presence in Britain is not a recent phenomenon and instead will recover stories from around the time of Wilberforce to the present day: 1750-2007. This important new website has been created to showcase the new stories and new research. It will enable and encourage everyone to participate in the collecting of stories of people of African descent by inviting people to view and submit information, ideas, photographs, essays and individual stories. We are also planning exhibitions at Hull History Centre in 2017 and Beverley Treasure House in 2018.

Our Project Team

A Community Project: How can you get involved?
This project is community-driven and inclusive with the opportunity for any interested person to contribute to the outcomes. The charity welcomes the help and support of volunteers to engage in archival research in areas such as military history, education, fisheries, health, public services, entertainment and sport in the local area. This archive is of national importance because it will evidence Britain’s rich and diverse history. The project will also be of social and educational value and serve as direct support to the GCSE History curriculum.

We also welcome contact from anyone of African descent (African, Caribbean, American) who were living in the area before 2007 in order that we can collect contemporary oral recordings of stories for future generations.

If you can help with our research we would love to hear from you! You can contact us with information, images, ideas, suggestions and offers of help by going to our CONTACT US page for more details. Thank you.

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William Wilberforce Monument Fund Awarded Heritage Lottery Fund Grant!

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