YMCA Leicestershire is delighted to announce the launch of an exciting new project Your Heritage Your Future funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
As part of the new project, the charity is seeking heritage partners across the East Midlands and East of England who want to focus on developing their engagement and employment opportunities for young people.
Your Heritage Your Future has been designed to support young people who have not been afforded the opportunity to engage in the Heritage Sector due to childhood adversities. The project will create the chance for them to participate, lead, work and ultimately bring diversity and inclusion to the heritage sector workforce.
YMCA Leicestershire and key partner Norfolk Museums Service both have significant experience of delivering impactful programmes to young people aged 11-25, many of whom would not previously have accessed heritage sites or have seen them as relevant to their lives.
Heritage organisations that sign up will receive training, which will empower them to build a sustainable youth engagement programme, develop partnerships with youth organisations and gain a deeper understanding of trauma informed practice.
In the second phase of the project it is hoped that young people will receive direct support to become a player, shaper or leader within the heritage sector.
Joanna Fleetwood-Smith, Business Development Director at YMCA Leicestershire, said: “This is a really exciting collaborative project with Norfolk Museums Service and we are delighted that National Lottery Heritage Fund can see the value in funding the development phase. We’d like to thank National Lottery Players for their support to make this happen.
Being able to support the museums and the heritage sector to develop their workforce and youth offer will make a real difference to the sector’s relevance and inclusivity, so that young people can see heritage as somewhere for them to enjoy, learn and earn.”
Cllr Margaret Dewsbury, Cabinet Member for Communities, Norfolk County Council said: “We’ve seen first-hand the successes that young people can have when they are simply supported in the right way. By working closely with heritage partners in the East Midlands and East of England to create new opportunities, we hope to connect young people with a sector they may not typically find themselves gravitating towards, and through this, explore and flourish.
Heritage organisations looking to find out more information should contact Juliet Martin, Project Lead for East Midlands, on [email protected]
Download our flyer to find out about our Trauma informed training taking place in October 2023
See our previous heritage work here: y-heritage.co.uk
