TEN community champions have been recruited from dozens of applications to help explore and celebrate Leicester’s diverse heritage.
The champions have been selected through the city's Inclusive Heritage project as part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund's Heritage Places programme.
The project aims to give a voice to Leicester’s diverse communities and ensure that more people feel involved in, and represented by, local cultural and heritage activity.
Working with the city council’s Heritage Places team, the champions are leading community-focused projects that explore overlooked stories, lived experiences and traditions from across Leicester’s neighbourhoods.
Helen Sharp, the city council’s Heritage Places programme manager, said: “Our new community heritage champions bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and passion, along with strong connections to neighbourhoods across Leicester.
“Together they will help uncover stories that are often missing from traditional heritage narratives, shining a light on the people, places, traditions and experiences that have helped shape our city.
“From food and culture to migration, disability, community activism and neighbourhood identity, these projects will help ensure that a broader range of voices and experiences are reflected in Leicester’s heritage.
“Thanks to National Lottery players, we can support these champions as they work in local neighbourhoods to capture, celebrate and share stories that might otherwise be lost.”
The ten Community Heritage Champions and their projects are:
- Carla Hills, who is creating a digital archive that will combine physical objects with people’s stories, memories and experiences of being LGBTQ+ in Leicester
- Charlotte Richardson, who will investigate how changes in the local community have affected carers and unpaid carers in Beaumont Leys
- Charmaine Cater, who is documenting the changing experiences of Gypsy families across four generations
- Christopher Samuel, who is exploring the experiences and representation of disabled people in Leicester
- Liga Orlovska, who is focusing on the experiences and contributions of Leicester’s Eastern European communities
- Nima Suchak, who is documenting stories of arrival, settlement and community life in Leicester
- Paula Croxton, who wants to make New Parks proud through a photobook project that will chart the area’s past and present
- Philomena Imade-Omoregie Osagie, who is researching West African food traditions and cultural knowledge passed through generations
- Rupal Rajani, who is preserving stories from Belgrave and documenting the role of the Belgrave Neighbourhood Co-operative Housing Association in supporting local communities
- Ty’rone Haughton, who hopes to celebrate the people and places of Highfields in poetry.
Assistant city mayor Cllr Vi Dempster said: “Leicester’s story has always been shaped by the many different communities that call our city home, but too often those stories have gone unheard.
“These ten Community Heritage Champions will help us uncover, celebrate and preserve the experiences, traditions and memories that make Leicester such a rich and diverse place. Their projects will ensure that more people can see themselves reflected in our shared heritage and help create a lasting legacy for future generations.”
The Inclusive Heritage project is part of the national Heritage Places programme, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Using a dedicated £200m funding pot, the programme aims to transform 20 places across the UK by 2033, helping people connect with local heritage, build pride in place and ensure a wider range of stories are represented in heritage activity.
The Leicester programme will support projects that explore neighbourhood histories, cultural traditions, community memories and lived experiences, helping to create a more inclusive record of the city’s heritage for future generations.
All the stories, research and community insights gathered through the Community Heritage Champions programme will help shape the next phase of Leicester's Heritage Places programme, informing future heritage activity and investment across the city.
More information about the champions and their projects is available at the project website