Two Bedford groups among first to get National Lottery funding from university

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Two groups based in Bedford are among the first cohort of Heritage Horizons projects announced by the University of Bedfordshire.

Permission2 as well as Desiree Bashi have been singled out as they both celebrate and preserve diverse heritage stories.

Heritage Horizons is a National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported project and is led by the university’s Culture and Community Engagement Team to deliver heritage projects across the region between 2024 and 2026.

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Permission2 – which was formed last year – has devised a project called Hometown Birds. It’s based on the migratory patterns of birds to reflect – in a light-hearted, positive, and accessible way – the multicultural nature of Bedford.

Sara Turner and Anne-Marie Abbate from Permission2Sara Turner and Anne-Marie Abbate from Permission2
Sara Turner and Anne-Marie Abbate from Permission2

Friendly workshops will take place within Church Square – Pigeon Square to you and me – and on market day. There’ll also be an art installation.

Desiree Bashi’s project is called Language Horizons and aims to create an audio-visual collection of stories to preserve and showcase the linguistic diversity of Bedford.

Community members and schools will participate in sharing stories and documenting words in various languages found around the town.

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Desiree BashiDesiree Bashi
Desiree Bashi

Along with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, project participants will also get support from the university.

Jen Lewis, heritage projects officer at the university, said: “We were blown away by the response to the first round of applications, and would like to thank everyone who has engaged with the project so far.”

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