Pier project gets funding boost (From Penarth Times)

Pier project gets funding boost

1:20pm Thursday 27th August 2009 in News

A PROJECT to uncover the history of Penarth Pier Pavilion has received a £24,500 funding boost.

The Heritage Lottery grant will help a team of youngsters co-ordinate a research project looking into the history of the Pavilion, during its heyday as the ‘Marina Ballroom’ in the 1940s.

Backed by Penarth Arts and Crafts Ltd – the community organisation that recently submitted a new bid for lottery funding to Heritage Lottery to restore the Pavilion – the programme will teach youngsters how to record oral history from Penarth residents past and present who remember the 1940s ballroom.

Titled ‘The Penarth Marina Ballroom: Memory, Costume and Music’, the social history project will be run specifically for young people aged 13-25.

The award will fund a series of research visits and creative workshops throughout 2010, and culminate in an exhibition of the project findings and creative outputs at the Washington Gallery.

Material will also be published in a book.

The project, which is set to start in January, will also see participants visit other ballroom sites, and learn how to access information in local archives.

Maggie Knight, of Penarth Arts and Crafts Ltd, said: "We are very pleased to have such an opportunity to offer young people.

"Through this programme they will make their own connections to the Pavilion which becomes part of their own heritage to be valued."

As well as the exhibition and publication, the project will celebrate the participants’ achievements in the form of a themed 1940s ball, to be held at a Penarth venue towards the end of 2010.

Jennifer Stewart, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund Wales, said: “It is so important for young people to learn about their past and understand where they come from.

"We are delighted to support this project, which will enable young people to research the history of the Penarth Marina Ballroom in its 1940s heyday.

"By doing so, they will learn a host of new skills, boost their confidence and create a sense of place in their community."

(blob) If you are aged between 13 and 25 and would like to participate in the programme, or you are a past visitor of the Marina Ballroom and would like to share your memories, please contact Kate Garner, Project Officer at Penarth Arts and Crafts Ltd, on: 029 2071 2100 or email: info@washingtongallery.co.uk