Research centre
Communication and Computing Research Centre 

Date
07/2012

CHT was established in 2000 to promote the community’s heritage and culture and to build a strong, successful community.

CHT was established in 2000 to promote the community's heritage and culture and to build a strong, successful community.

A registered charity and limited company, CHT currently employs part time staff including a Trust manager, a Community Arts worker and a woodland ranger, with other applications for staff pending approval. It has an active, thriving and enthusiastic board of trustees who is keen to develop new partnerships between SHU, the Trust, and other local community groups for which CHT is an umbrellaorganisation, including Friends of Fryston Woods, Castleford Riverside Community Group, FrystonCommunity Group. 

It also has close associations with local primary schools across five towns and would like to extend this to include secondary schools, and sees a new partnership with SHU as a vehicle to achieve. C3RI has held 3 open days during May to June 2012 in different community locations -Fryston, Fryston Green and Castleford's Bridge Arts Centre.

We are using the extensive mailing lists and community contacts that Castleford Heritage Trust (CHT) to publicise the open days, plus printed materials to be left in libraries and other community venues. These open days will highlight the range of expertise of the researchers, and in particular, how SHU may work in partnership with community groups to support related HLF-funded heritage activities. SHU already has publications and video material that has previously been carried out by one of the researchers in this area.

Further workshops will be held to support community groups with their HLF applications. A Website, blog and other social media/mobile resources will be set up and the community will be encouraged to use and populate them.

After the open days, we are

• Maintaining the website, Facebook pages and blog and invite people to augment it with their own recollections of the area's past - text, pictures and where available, film footage. We will also add to it ourselves, with relevant material.
• The website details the researchers' interests and expertise in community heritage and the support that the university is able to give
• Hold workshops and meetings from September to November to guide community groups through the planned HLF grants programme to finalise proposals for collaborative working. Researchers will meet with community groups at every stage of the process. Some of these meetings may be held using Skype or video conferencing software (after training where necessary, and with the consent of all parties) in order to cut down on travel time and costs.
• Work with the NCCPE to ensure that HLF applicants understand the support they can get from the NCCPE site in terms of the brokerage process between researchers and community groups across the UK.

Researchers involved

Professor Dave Waddington - Head of the Communication and Computing Research Centre (CCRC)

Dr Eleanor Lockley - Research Fellow and Associate Lecturer

Dr Kerry McSeveny - Researcher and Associate Lecturer

Shirley Lindley - Knowledge Transfer Manager