Croydon-based charity Black Minority Ethnic Television, Film and Media (BMETFM) will launch Our Heritage TV covering black and Asian pioneers in the fields of civil rights, education, entertainment, government, science and sport.

The project will cover the years 1950 to 2010 and among those figures to be included are the late Lord Pitt of Hampstead, a Parliamentarian who championed the cause of the UK’s black community, filmmaker and cultural historian Patrick Verson, founder of the 100 Great Black Britons campaign, and Adelaide Hall, US-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer.

The project is being supported by Black Cultural Archives who will help train volunteers to act as ‘mini curators’ with the skills and knowledge to build up online ‘exhibitions’ for broadcast on the channel.

Our Heritage TV is set to launch during Black History Month this October with the aim that by October 2015 there will be an estimated 1,000 items of heritage available to view and interact with. Among organisations supporting the project are London Archives Centre, BBC History, the Black and Asian Studies Association, Google Cultural Institute and Audio Bo. The channel will also be accessible on mobile phones via a specially designed mobile app.

Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, said: “This project will help to gather, record and broadcast a wide range of information covering black and Asian contributions to living in Britain over the past 60 years.”

For BMETFM, the charity’s president Ewemade Orobator, said: “The Heritage Lottery Fund by backing Our Heritage TV has made a statement that it values the contribution that black and ethnic minority people have made to the great story of the United Kingdom. Our project allows us to share a snapshot of at times difficult but deep and enriching contribution (1950-2010) on a national and global stage. We look forward to the massive contribution ordinary people across London will play in building and sharing this heritage.”

Further information

For further information please contact Vicky Wilford, HLF press office, on 020 7591 6046 / 07973 401 937, email vickyw@hlf.org.uk or Phil Cooper, HLF press office, on 07889 949 173.

David Makule, BMETFM, on: 020 7544 1054, email: president@bmetv.net.