Local Unsung Heroes to be Celebrated in New Heritage Project

Clydesider Creative CIC, is excited to share our good news to kickstart the year.

We have been awarded a multi-year grant of £138,954 by The National Heritage Lottery Fund for our multi-media project ‘In Peace & Revolution.’

We will use the funding to record and celebrate stories of local community activists and campaigners who helped create positive changes in West Dunbartonshire and beyond.

These community heroes of the past include Suffragettes, rent strikers and red Clydesiders who campaigned for better wages, living conditions and universal suffrage; young men and women who fought Franco's fascists in Spain; local authors and adventurers who travelled the world before returning home to campaign for new political parties and a national health service free for all.

In more recent years there are the founders of local credit unions and quality social housing; environmental and rural activists protecting local greenspaces and Common Good land; members of the Unemployed Workers Movement who shared skills and knowledge to challenge poverty in their communities; peace campaigners who established the Peace Camp at Faslane and women’s refuges; there are football fans who saved their clubs and religious leaders who created a peaceful oasis for the sick and dying; there are local workers who fought for legal recognition and compensation for asbestosis victims and their families; senior citizens who championed pensioners' welfare and housing rights, plus many more unsung heroes and heroines.

Amanda Eleftheriades-Sherry, director of Clydesider Creative CIC, explained: “Community activism seems to run through the veins of the people of Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale. I’m fortunate to have known many of these community campaigners, or heard their stories.

“Much of this heritage is within living or generational memory, but as time passes people are passing or moving away and many of these memories and stories are disappearing.

“We hope this project will create a pride in the community’s past and an understanding that power to influence and create change doesn't just lie at the ballot box or in the hands of the powerful.

“By bringing these stories to life using a range of participatory and creative activities and multi-media formats, we will celebrate these community champions and create a local heritage treasure trove which can be easily accessed online plus additional resources which can be shared with local community groups, schools and libraries.

“We would like to thank players of the National Lottery as their support not only helps us share these stories but also funds many of today’s activists to create positive change in our communities.”

As part of the project Clydesider Creative will also continue to work with and develop the local Heritage Network which they established in 2023 and will host the first West Dunbartonshire-wide Heritage Festival during Local History Awareness month in May 2026.

We are now recruiting a Heritage Lead to take the project forward. Details and a job pack are available from www.clydesider.org/vacancies