Based on the AHRC CC Heritage Network Symposium held at the HRI, University of Sheffield, on January 16^th 2015, the Connected Communities Heritage Network has now published the AHRC CC Heritage Network Symposium Proceedings 2015 paper.

The document incorporates research on the following topics:

• Prototyping Heritage: Collections, Materials and Emerging Approaches to Engagement, by Arrigoni G et al;

• Knowledge, Impact and Legacy in Community Heritage Research Projects, by Lewis C;

• Heritage Legacies: Digital Building Heritage Review, by Wilkinson J et al.

The AHRC Connected Communities Heritage Network Symposium Proceedings 2015 could be downloaded here.

The paper is also available at http://www.heritagenetwork.dmu.ac.uk/portfolio/, together with a number of other useful heritage related resources and documents.

For the past two years or so, Dr Susanne Seymour has been working with a local community group under the Nottingham Slave Trade Legacies initiative. A key element of this work has been to make links to the transatlantic slave trade more visible in heritage sites.

One strand has been funded through the AHRC Global Cotton Connections project (https://globalcottonconnections.wordpress.com/), but the community group also secured its own Heritage Lottery Fund grant. This small project – Slave Trade Legacies: The Colour of Money (https://slavetradelegacies.wordpress.com/projects/the-colour-of-money/), has now been selected as a finalist in the National Lottery Heritage awards. The winner (from the 7 shortlisted finalists) is decided by public vote.

The press release below gives more information on the project and Susanne’s connection with it: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2016/july/give-your-vote-to-nottingham-slave-trade-legacies-project.aspx

If you do feel able to support the project by voting here’s a quick link to the relevant National Lottery webpage: http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/project/slave-trade-legacies-colour-money

Please do consider voting and sharing this link by 20 July deadline.

Naturally there is a lot of competition for this funding from a diverse range of heritage projects – from initiatives to build tourist attractions, to archive digitalisation projects. And of course the HLF wants to ensure that it funds the most deserving projects.

Because of this, when applying for HLF funding for your archive, library, or museum project; it’s vital that you convey the value and positive outcomes of your project effectively in order to give your bid the best chance of being successful.

But composing an HLF bid is a complex process… So in our new blog HLF Special Advisor & Heritage consultant, Claire Adler, shares how to develop a successful HLF funding bid.