WORK Records
WORK Records is an 18 month creative heritage project exploring historic working lives across the East Midlands.
It will bring together “investigative” teams of heritage curators, historians, artists, current and former workers and volunteers, to explore the holdings of three heritage collections – Derbyshire Record Office, Corby Heritage Centre and John Smedley Archive – and discover what they can tell us about working lives three family firms: John Smedley at Lea Mills, packaging firm Robinson and Sons in Chesterfield, and steel manufacturer Stewarts & Lloyds Ltd in Corby.
The artists will make short films will literally animate these important, untold stories of the significance, ideas, realities, and contemporary resonance of regional family firms, bringing heritage stories to life in an accessible and engaging way.
The films will be the catalyst for live and online events connecting contemporary workers and families with their historic counterparts. An online resource will document the project and host discoveries, increasing access to the collections, demonstrating the importance of heritage and how it resonates with how we live today.
Alongside the archive collections, Animate is working with arts organisations Junction Arts in Chesterfield and Fermynwoods Contemporary Art in Northamptonshire, the history team at the University of Derby, and Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
WORK Records is made possible with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players, and is also supported by Arts Council England.
Our call for animation artists is live.
The deadline is noon, Tuesday, 22 April 2025.
Follow this link to find more information. Submissions are through CuratorSpace.
We are also looking for other people to join the WORK Records team in these roles:
Project Manager (0.6, 18 months) follow this link for more information
Project Historian (freelance) follow this link for more information
Evaluation Consultant (freelance) follow this link for more information
The deadline for applications to these roles is noon, Friday, 11 April 2025
If you might be interested in contributing to WORK Records eg if you work or used to work at one of the companies, or a volunteer researcher, please email Gary at workrecords@animateprojects.org and we’ll add you to our mailing list.
Photograph: workers at the John Smedley knitting factory in Lea Bridge, Derbyshire, 1927, courtesy John Smedley Archive Charitable Trust
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
WORK Records partners
Corby Heritage Centre
Housed in a former school building, Corby Heritage Centre has an eclectic collection of photographs, documents and other artefacts, focused on celebrating the industrial and social heritage of the town, its steel industry and communities, including the Scottish migrants who came to work in the steelworks. Our starting point of this investigation will be the staff newspaper for steel manufacturer Stewarts & Lloyds, and films made by the S&L film unit.
Derbyshire Record Office
The Robinson’s collection at Derbyshire Record Office has extensive records from the Chesterfield packaging firm that produced pill boxes in the 1840s and invented the spiral (Smarties) tube in the 1930s. Records relate to its pioneering paternalism – worker satisfaction, housing (in 1919 the company created Wheatbridge Housing Association forms to build houses for employees) and protection (first aid, leisure, exercise, hot meals, entertainment, sickness pay, sanitary pads). The company magazine, The Link (1918-96) will be a key source for the investigation.
John Smedley Archive Charitable Trust
The John Smedley Archive collection, of over 23,000 items (going back to the second half of the 19th century), including paintings, promotional materials, production specifications and historic garments, is the most comprehensive of any of the hosiery and knitwear companies. It offers a unique glimpse into over 240 years of this family business.
Fermynwoods Contemporary Art
Founded in 1998, Fermynwoods Contemporary Art supports life through art. This is achieved through commissioning innovative and meaningful ways for artists to engage with audiences in public spaces across Northamptonshire and online, through a wide range of temporary, socially engaged and education-based projects, linking culture to environmental sustainability and education, fusing urban culture with the rural landscape and bringing rural perspectives into the urban environment.
Junction Arts
Established in 1976 and based in Chesterfield, Junction Arts helps communities facing social barriers such as poverty, poor health, and low aspirations to create a better future through the arts. Festivals, workshops, and events give people the opportunity to be creative, learn new skills and build stronger communities. Junction Arts is committed to working with communities to co-create magical and memorable arts experiences that empower people, improve wellbeing and inspire change.
University of Derby
At the University of Derby a thriving community of researchers, professionals and practitioners are influencing the creation of new knowledge and sharing their expertise. On the MA in History and Heritage, students explore how history plays a central role in understanding and shaping contemporary society, preparing them for leadership roles in public history, heritage and cultural industries.
Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site
The Derwent Valley Mills and the surrounding landscape were inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001, in recognition that the valley saw the birth of the factory system, when new types of building were erected to house new technology for spinning cotton. DVMWHS promotes a local, national and international understanding and identity for the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site as a cohesive and coherent whole, based on its global significance for all of humankind.