Hidden Lives of Barton & Tredworth
A project to piece together the history of Barton & Tredworth and its people will be launched next month (Thursday 3rd March) at the Picturedrome Theatre. 
And it needs your help! If you are from the area and fancy piecing together a piece of living history, come along and find out more. 
Gloucestershire Archives is working with the Gloucester Theatre Company and the University of Gloucestershire on Hidden Lives. The project will give people in Barton & Tredworth opportunities to meet, work together on creative projects and share life experience and skills. 
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a grant of £48,000 towards this creative oral history project taking place in Barton and Tredworth throughout 2011.
The project will help with the development of collections at Gloucestershire Archives, ensuring future generations are able to discover the diverse histories of people who live in the Barton and Tredworth area.
Hidden Lives will give local people, particularly 16-25 year olds, the chance to learn new skills by getting involved in creating and publishing heritage material, through audio recordings, short digitals films, reminiscence theatre and a permanent community website.
Nerys Watts, head of Heritage Lottery Fund South West said: "Through collecting and preserving the stories of local people, this wonderful project will create a lasting record of real people’s experience of living in Barton and Tredworth. Now more than ever, people are recognising what an important role history and our heritage plays in giving us a sense of belonging. Through valuing and sharing our diverse histories we can encourage understanding across our communities - and provide a foundation for a modern confident society."
Cllr Antonia Noble, Cabinet manager for caring and community, said: “I am delighted Gloucestershire Archives is supporting this innovative community heritage project and excited about the wide range of volunteering and other activities it offers. As well as learning about each other, local people will be creating a permanently accessible record of their personal histories – something they can continue to build on beyond the scope of this project.”
The Hidden Lives project will be publicly launched on Thursday 3rd March at the Picturedrome Theatre at 7.30pm and people who work and live in Barton & Tredworth are invited to come along. There will be demonstrations of digital storytelling and reminiscence gathering as well as an opportunity to find out more about the project and get involved.
The project is looking for people who are willing to share their stories, and for volunteers to become involved as actors, oral history interviewers, digital storytelling facilitators and website designers. 
Training in oral history gathering, community website design, reminiscence theatre and digital storytelling are all being offered free to interested volunteers. For more information visit www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/hiddenlives 
ENDS
Notes to editors
Barton and Tredworth is the second largest BME community in the South West and its demographic profile is continually changing. Recently it has seen a significant influx of people from Eastern and Southern Europe.
Hidden Lives was inspired by the three-volume Our Untold Stories history collection which covered the experiences of first generation immigrants within the Asian, African-Caribbean and Chinese communities in Gloucestershire. (Published 2001-2003)