Capturing stories of those at the 1981 People’s March for Jobs

A group of people on a march through an industrial areas. They are holding a large banners, one reads 'People's March for Jobs'
People's March for Jobs (1981). Image courtesy of Giz a Job

National Lottery Grants for Heritage – £10,000 to £250,000

Date awarded
Location
Vauxhall
Local Authority
Liverpool
Applicant
Vauxhall Community Law and Information Centre
Award Given
£70167
The Giz a Job project will support a group of volunteers to produce an in-depth ‘people’s history’ of the iconic march and the right to work movement.

Hundreds of protesters, a large number of which were unemployed young adults from Merseyside, took part in the 280-mile trek from Liverpool to London.  

Over four weeks, they passed through 22 towns where they organised rallies highlighting issues around unemployment, race, disability and gender inequality. 

The march concluded with a huge music festival in Brockwell Park, Brixton, and a 150,000-strong demonstration in Trafalgar Square. 

Preserving personal history

The project explores this history, and will include:  

  • training for volunteers in transferable heritage skills, including archival research, oral history interviewing and exhibition design
  • free public events, including a mural unveiling, reminiscence session, historical talks and an exhibition
  • producing an educational booklet, public artwork and website

Project Coordinator Greig Campbell said: “The history of the right to work movement is intimately woven into the fabric of Liverpool. However, for far too long, unemployed people have been mistakenly portrayed as a defeated and passive lumpen mass; too disorganised or ambivalent to take agency over their lives. The project will remedy this by providing a history from below of the People’s March for Jobs.” 

Find out more about this project on the Giz a Job website.

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