Previous Projects

Untold Stories

Untold Stories was a three year diversity project funded by the Heritage Lottery fund and supported by other key partners and funders including Cambridge City Council. The project was run by project manager, Patricia Lashley,  and managed by Momentum Arts.

The project comprised of 4 key strands:
Local and Historical Role Models: this county wide campaign sought to identify the top 10 Black and Asian local and historical role models for Cambridgeshire. Nominations were received for an array of people, their only common connection a link with Cambridgeshire. This campaign culminated in a ceremony at The Fitzwilliam Museum in October 2006 where the top ten role models nominated received an award. In addition to this a research piece and publication on the Black historical role model Olaudah Equiano was commissioned.

Cambridge Untold: was a magazine recording the lives and experiences of Mill Road’s Black and Minority Ethnic business owners. The first of its kind, Cambridge Untold was a highly successful publication with a print run of 2, 000 copies and has been disseminated, locally, regionally, nationally.

Reminiscence Skills: This strand of the project aimed to record the lives and experiences of the older and younger people from BME communities within Cambridgeshire. Reminiscence was the essence of Untold Stories allowing the ‘untold stories’ to be heard. The stories were captured in an array of imaginative ways using creative techniques such as drama workshops and web-design. 

Storytelling: This strand of the project brought together a group of storytellers in order to capture their stories by creating murals and mosaics.  They worked with children and young people in schools throughout Cambridgeshire to create a series of arts works and record a collection of stories culminating in the CD:Rom publication: The Beginners Guide to Cross Cultural Storytelling.

The Untold Stories project was an exciting and hugely successful and ended in a event that took place on 20th of June 2008 at the Corn Exchange where over 1,000 joined us to celebrate the end of a project with an evening of dance, music and celebration.

To see more photos and footage from this event please visit the Untold Stories website

Copies of the publication ‘Equiano’s Daughter, the Life and Times of Joanna Vassa’ and The Beginner’s Guide to Cross-Cultural Storytelling’ CD are free (postage not included) please contact Momentum Arts

Being Here

Being Here was a 3 year programme of social and cultural regeneration in Southend-on-Sea, part of a regional programme called Arts Generate and keenly supported by two major stakeholders: Southend Borough Council and Arts Council England East. The project was run by Project Manager Heather Stradling and managed by Momentum Arts.  

Over a thousand participants took part in Being Here between 2002 and 2006. Whilst Southend-on-Sea is best known as a seaside resort, this was a project for the young people who live across the road from the beach but cannot afford to visit the funfair.

The overall aims were to offer creative opportunities to an increasing number of young people living in Southend, who had been identified as either excluded, at risk of exclusion and from hard to reach groups and communities.  

Exploring the themes of living in Southend and attitudes to issues such as drug abuse, hate crime, homelessness and so on, young people created and presented a wide range of high-quality artworks, performances and sharings, ranging from informal barbecues to exhibitions alongside the main show in Focal Point Gallery, and all day long events at the Westcliff Palace Theatre and South East Essex College’s Atrium and other spaces.

Turning the Tide