Thursday 26 June 2025

LAHS Public Heritage Fund Grant for the Social Gallery

This small grant helps towards the cost of podcasting equipment to be used to tell the story of Leicester's music and art scene.

The Social Gallery Directors. From left to right, Joe Nixon, Christina Whigmore, Shaun Knapp (2025). Photo provided by Shaun Knapp. https://socialgallery.co.uk/

The Public Heritage Fund is pleased to announce a grant to Social Gallery,  a community interest company which aims to improve wellbeing and social connection through creative projects. Their work engages communities and individuals with shared experiences in social history projects, leading to the co-creation of exhibitions, films, books and events.

Social Gallery will develop a podcast which focuses on individuals from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s who participated in Leicester’s music, art and creative/cultural scenes. Hippies, teddy boys, mods, rockers, punks, casuals, skinheads, musicians and artists to name but a few all have a story to tell about Leicester’s rich and varied cultural scene and the aim is to capture those stories for future generations to learn from and enjoy before it's too late.

The PHF has contributed funding towards podcasting equipment for the project. The unedited podcasts will be passed on to the East Midlands Oral History Archive while the edited versions will be available via YouTube. This will build up an extensive library of contemporary social history podcasts for both students, teachers and the general public to access for research or pleasure.

Shaun Knapp, Social Gallery Director, said: “We are delighted that Social Gallery CIC has received this funding from the Public Heritage Fund. As an organisation, we are dedicated to improving wellbeing and social connection by engaging people in creative social history projects. The podcasts will enable creatives from the 1960s, 70s and 80s to share their stories, some for the first time, a legacy that will be enjoyed by future generations”.

If you feel your Society or project could benefit from the Public Heritage Fund, please get in touch!