PITCH, PUTT AND PADDLE

Funded By:

About The Project:

We are delighted to announce that this summer, The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded us a grant of £15,145.  The aim of the funding is to bring the community together through intergenerational activity whilst celebrating the local area’s heritage, through a new project called “Pitch, Putt and Paddle”.

This project aims to bring together local people and local groups of people of different ages and abilities in the Kings Norton area of Birmingham in order for them to share their knowledge and feelings about their local neighbourhood.

The heritage that the project will address is that of two areas of Kings Norton – firstly the 3 Estates area and in particular the canals that run under the estates.  We believe that many local people especially younger people do not know the importance and heritage of the canals that in the past were used to carry goods from Birmingham and across the countryside.  The second area of heritage interest is that of an area called “The Fairway” which was once Kings Norton’s Golf Course which also had prefabricated homes (or “prefabs”)  that were built alongside it.  The prefabs were demolished in the 1960s and the golf course was moved out into the countryside followed by the building of new homes – some of which were “self-build” homes, schools and other local amenities. Arts 50 Alive will be bringing together local people of all ages to learn and share stories whether these are first hand experiences that many older people have about living in a prefab or of watching the barges carry goods along the canals or even of building their own house.  We believe that it is important that these stories are told and preserved for future generations and shared with as many people as possible and this is what the project will be offering – people of all ages and abilities getting together and learning and sharing the stories of their community.

Over the summer and in the autumn, local community groups, youth groups and local schools have participated in a series of events and the stories are in the process being captured and preserved using a variety of art techniques.  Finally, the artworks and the community’s stories will be shared in several exhibitions across the Kings Norton community.

Rebecca Debenham from Northfield Community Partnership, who is Chair of the Arts 50 Alive Intergenerational Network said: “We are delighted to receive funding from The National Heritage Fund to carry out our new project “Pitch, Putt and Paddle.”  And we would like to thank National Lottery players for helping is. This project will bring the community together through intergenerational activity whilst celebrating the local area’s heritage.” 

There are many photographs showing what the project has involved and we will be continuing in the coming months.

Media Gallery: