National Lottery Grants for Heritage – £10,000 to £250,000
The project
The Stadium of Light, home to Sunderland Association Football Club (AFC), is on the site of what was once Sunderland's largest mine.
Wearmouth Colliery opened in 1835 and operated for more than 150 years. At its 1980s peak over 2,400 people worked there. It closed in 1993.
Throughout the generations, Sunderland AFC’s fanbase has been significantly made up of mine and coal shipyard workers. It features a pit wheel on its badge and a colliery wheel by the ground’s West Stand.
Coals to Goals aimed to celebrate and connect communities to this local industrial heritage, including children and young people, and adults at risk of loneliness and isolation.
Over 80 hours of oral histories were recorded, capturing people’s memories of the mines as well as what it meant to have supported Sunderland AFC over the years.
Aly Dixon, Project Coordinator, says: “The memories of the Sunderland fans gathered in this project are an invaluable part of our common culture, saved for posterity.”
The organisation
The project was led by Foundation of Light, whose purpose is to improve lives through the power of football.
It was inspired by the five ways to wellbeing and delivered different heritage activities, each with a clear focus to enable participants to:
- connect: through weekly heritage-based sessions
- learn: with a programme on the history of Sunderland and its relationship with the football club, literacy, numeracy and citizenship
- take notice: by exploring Sunderland AFC’s history through an interactive timeline in the stadium
- give: by empowering those with lived experience of the mines to be trained as volunteers and lead heritage activities
- be active: through joining guided heritage walks and museum visits
Academic staff from Durham University conducted the oral history interviews to capture the memories of fans from the 1950s–1970s.
These were used as part of an interactive heritage timeline displayed on touchscreens within the stadium grounds, developed with the expertise of a Community Interest Company based in Sunderland.
The funding
Our £247,300 grant meant that many personal stories of community spirit in Sunderland were not lost to time.
The process of reminiscing, sharing and documenting these stories also helped the participants to see the value of their experiences and connect with others.
Aly says: “Those involved in the oral history project developed their communication and memory-sharing skills by talking to the interviewer. Some of the participants were reluctant to sign up to take part as they thought that they did not have any memories worth sharing, but once they got talking they recalled some brilliant stories and beautiful, meaningful memories which all added to the story of being a Sunderland fan.”
Participants were also encouraged to share their knowledge and skills as part of other activities running across the whole project.
Some volunteers ran Heritage Days activities for schoolchildren. In one of the sessions, children were able to learn about mining through song and music and see some of the equipment up close.
Aly says: “The former miners who volunteered were a huge success and contributed a unique element. The passion and bringing to life of their personal experiences really hit home with the children involved and helped to provide a more interesting and interactive experience.”
The results
The project used impact surveys to monitor and evaluate the participants’ experiences, conducting these at the beginning and then at regular six-to-eight-week intervals.
The surveys tracked changes in how participants viewed their health and wellbeing, skills and the strength of their social connections.
The surveys revealed that 76% felt their mental health was improved, 83% had learned skills and 97% had developed new friendships or social connection.
The results also showed that 100% of participants felt they had gained greater knowledge of Sunderland heritage. And 94% said that they would continue to attend heritage sessions if they were available in the future.
One participant of the memory-sharing sessions said: “It's an interesting session on local culture, history and shared memories. I have built relationships with new people and benefited enormously from the social interaction in a very calm environment. Hopefully this will continue as there are people who live alone and certainly benefit from coming together."
The future
Following the success of the Sunderland Coals to Goals project, the team are looking to run a similar project in County Durham. It would operate in former colliery communities, helping to reduce loneliness and social isolation and teach young people about their mining heritage and the history of Sunderland Football Club.
The team continue to run regular heritage walks and social groups for the community to chat and share memories.
Top tips
Aly shared their top tips for planning a heritage project aiming to support and engage under-served communities:
- Involve people with lived experiences. The passion and personal stories will bring something unique and create more interesting heritage sessions.
- Plan your evaluation early. Evaluating your project as you go along will ensure you stay on the right path and make it as successful as possible.
- Identify your skills gaps and find partners to fill them. It was quickly discovered that advanced skills around collecting oral histories were required to capture the memories of football fans, so an invitation to tender was put out to local organisations, groups and individuals to run that part of the project.
- Create a friendly and welcoming environment where people feel safe and respected. The social aspect is very important for participants and is what keeps them coming along.
- Make the activities age group relevant. Tailor the school sessions towards the year groups you are working with so the children leave having had fun and having learned something new.
If you're thinking about running a project that researches, conserves or celebrates the heritage of a community or place, explore more project examples.
