Culture And Memory

Don't Mourn, Organise!: A people's history of the Kirkby Unemployed Centre

Don't Mourn, Organise! is a multi-dimensional participant-led creative heritage project documenting the Kirkby Unemployed Centre (KUC), a social welfare and community activist hub operating in Knowsley (1981-2014). With the support of local heritage professionals and community groups, we will train a cohort of young Volunteers in a variety of skills. Participants will undertake supervised research on the history of the KUC and community activism in their home-town. Previously unseen archival material and participant-recorded oral histories will inspire innovative open access public outputs (exhibition, animated short, comic-book, protest banner, oral history book and education resource pack). Public events (history talks and exhibition tours) will be enjoyed by the people of Kirkby. The scheme will culminate with the research material being absorbed into Knowsley Archives (ARK) for future community use. At project close, the Volunteers will establish a Youth History Club and continue to undertake community oral history projects across Kirkby.