Debbie Cooper, Past Lives Project Co-ordinator, writes:

“I’m co-ordinating an arts and heritage project in Nottingham over the next few months. With funding from Arts Council and Heritage Lottery Past Lives Project is calling out for local cine film, photos and history featuring everyday lives of the region. We are digitising local film for free; the original depositor keeps their film and gets a free digitised copy too. The digitised film will be edited and a live composition created by international musicians and strings from Sinfonia Viva Orchestra will be created as a soundtrack to the new Nottingham film.

in 2012 we worked with MACE footage to create a film of the Midlands using cine film from 1930s – 1970s, now we are doing the same for Nottingham.

We will be doing archive days, memory events, cine film viewing and digitisation.

Would you be able to help us find local cine film? People hide it away and often it gets destroyed when people move house, or is stored in warm conditions and deteriorates rapidly. Cine film has so much social history and we are losing it at an ever increasing rate. We are asking groups with heritage contacts to help us spread the  message, to get people looking in cupboards and under beds to save this precious social history before it is lost forever.

We are running a photo and cine film heritage day on 9th August and we are also calling out for heritage volunteers on that day too. As we are a short project we will need local groups to pass volunteers on to us afterwards.

Kind regards”

Debbie Cooper, Past Lives Project Co-ordinator, 07866693436

09 August – Lakeside – Volunteer Training Day – learn how to conserve your precious photos and cine film

23 August – Beeston Parish Church, Middle Street, Beeston – Cake for Memories – swap your memories for tea and cake, vintage style

13 September – Lakeside – Oral History Day and film viewing

11 October – Djanogly Theatre – Past Lives Project followed by post-show discussion

06 December – Lakeside – Legacy Day – Launch of the Past Lives Project Nottingham archive