This year will be the fifth annual heritage month for the borough

By Dean Armond

Newham Heritage Month returns for a fifth time in 2024 to reflect the rich and diverse history and heritage of the Borough. Building on the success of previous years, the programme will select a theme and then invite individuals and community groups to come up with projects that celebrate different aspects of the topic.

The NHM 2024 Steering Group held a competition in October to select the theme and nearly 600 people voted to choose ‘Places and Spaces’. This was followed by a successful application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and so the programme for next year will now have £100,000 of grant funding available.

The first event was ‘Inspiration Day’ on Saturday 2 December at Stratford Library where the Newham Archives and Local Studies search room are located. Access to these resources and the staff will provide support for project ideas and explore routes to learn more.

Available for public access are a range of resources to find out about the history of Newham and its people including local newspapers, local parish and council records dating from 17th century to today, school records, electoral registers, historical maps, books, newsletters, and an extensive photographic collection as well as museum artefacts (which are not on display).

An integral part of all projects is to create a record that can be added to the online Newham Heritage Month archive so that others can share in the project.

Participation in Inspiration Day allowed people to speak to the NHM 2024 team and learn more about what they are looking for in the grant applications.

The following week an online surgery was held on Thursday 7 December to support those individuals and groups considering applying for a grant.

The submission deadline is 8 January 2024, for both residents and groups.

The successful applicants will be informed shortly afterwards, allowing several months to prepare for NHM 2024 which will run from 1-30 June.

Newham Council Heritage Month 2024 Launch: www.newhamheritagemonth.org/blog/newham-heritage-month-2024-launch/

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