Slave Trade Legacies: The Colour of Money, in Nottingham is appealing for local votes as it strives for nationwide acclaim on BBC One in this year’s National Lottery Awards. The project beat off stiff competition from over 600organisations to reach the public voting stage in this year’s National Lottery Awards – the annual search for the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects. Slave Trade Legacies: The Colour of Money is competing against six other projects to be crowned the winner of the Heritage category. Winners of the seven National Lottery Awards categories will each get a £3,000 cash prize to spend on their project, an iconic National Lottery Awards trophy and attend a star-studded glittering Awards ceremony in London, broadcast on BBC One in September.
The project explored the extent to which some UK heritage visitor attractions acknowledge their links to the transatlantic slave trade. Volunteers were given training from a range of expert facilitators and analysed venues with well-known or hidden links to slavery. They also explored how their own ancestors have contributed to the material wealth of the UK including the wealth of certain individuals.
Patrick Vernon OBE of Every Generation Media helped launch the project and mentored the project coordinators from its inception. Patrick says that if the black community alone got behind this award, they could win the Award against the odds: “We want the UK black and other communities who recognise the value of preserving, sharing and reflecting on a painful past to get behind this important and empowering project. It is rare for such a small black project to gain recognition at this level, let alone one which set out to expose how much of the material wealth in Britain has been gained which has often been hidden from public awareness across a number of generations. The history this project explored is not black history; it is a shared and collective history that has shaped modern Britain. Thus we hope that the public will also value its contribution and come out and vote for the project as part of the wider heritage of our multicultural society.”
Lisa Robinson of Slave Trade Legacies says winning the prestigious National Lottery Award and having their work showcased on national television would be an honour: “We’re delighted to have reached the finals of The National Lottery Awards. We are the only Black project in the finals of the heritage category. The funding supported a team of volunteers, largely from the African and Caribbean community to visit and engage with heritage sites, take part in workshops and learning sessions, and capture their journey on their own website and social media. It also enabled the project to produce and screen films. It’s easy to vote so we’re hoping that readers of The Phoenix Newspaper will support us, and it would be a fantastic reward for all the volunteers involved in the project to receive national recognition for their hard work and commitment.”
TV star and actor John Barrowman will be presenting the National Lottery Awards for the sixth time this year. He says:
“The National Lottery Awards are a great way to shine a spotlight on outstanding Lottery-funded projects. Now in their 13th year, the Awards celebrate the talent and dedication of the amazing staff and volunteers that run incredible life changing Lottery- funded projects for the benefit of their communities and the people who live in them.
“Your project has worked very hard to become a finalist and they now need your support because the project with the most votes in each category will be crowned the winner.
“Projects receive funding thanks to National Lottery players who raise £36 million every single week for Good Causes across the UK such as Slave Trade Legacies: The Colour of Money.”
To vote for Slave Trade Legacies: The Colour of Money:
Website: http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards/heritage
Telephone 0844 836 9675
Twitter: hashtag #NLAwards #STLFamily.
Facebook: facebook.com/VoteSTL
Voting runs for four weeks from 9am on Wednesday 22 June until midnight on Wednesday 20 July.