Unearthed: Forgotten Histories
9th October 2026
Discover how National Lottery funding is helping Serendipity Institute preserve African and African Caribbean heritage across the Midlands.
Pawlet Brookes MBE, CEO of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, at the launch of the '100 Black Women Who Have Made A Mark' exhibition in October 2024.
Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage is an organisation in Leicester that champions the experiences and culture of African and African Caribbean communities.
Its Unearthed: Forgotten Histories project received £729,438 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop and grow an archive reflecting the diversity of African and African Caribbean communities across the Midlands.
This is one of the largest grants awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to a Black arts and heritage organisation.
The project builds on a development phase that piloted its Young Archivists training programme. Young Archivists gives young people from communities that are underrepresented in the heritage sector the opportunity to learn from industry experts.
During the first phase, young people visited Autograph, Iniva and Tate, and received training in emerging technology in archives, oral histories and audience development. The next phase will expand the programme to support 16 young people.
Serendipity will also expand its Living Archive, a digital collection of archival materials capturing the history of African and African Caribbean communities in the Midlands.
Alongside the archive, Serendipity will create educational resources, events and exhibitions, while training volunteers to help collect and preserve oral histories and archival material.
Because of You
Thanks to National Lottery players, who raise £33 million for good causes every week, projects like these can make a real difference.