‘Custom House, Our House’: Intergenerational Voices on the Impact of Community-led Regeneration

Get involved in creating Custom House heritage for future generations in our forthcoming oral history project ‘Custom House, Our House’, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Thanks to National Lottery players, Custom House Bookshop, in collaboration with Royal College of Art, are partnering with Newham Heritage Service, Newham Libraries and Rosetta Arts for a community oral history project in Custom House (September 2024-2025). The oral history project will record intergenerational voices on the impact of community-led regeneration in Custom House.

Denise Evans-Barr (co-founder of Custom House Bookshop) and Jessie Brennan (artist and Tutor at Royal College of Art) are recruiting volunteers to train as oral history interviewers and record Custom House oral histories relating to urban change. We are also inviting expressions of interest from participants willing to share their testimony as an interviewee, and there are other ways to get involved in the project too.

Up to 12 volunteers will receive oral history training (with honorarium at London Living Wage, plus expenses) to record an oral history interview from a community member who has lived experience of Custom House regeneration or expertise in community-led regeneration. We are particularly interested to hear from people who identify as working class, Black and Global Majority individuals, young people (aged 18–30) and elders (aged 50+) representative of Newham’s diverse communities and heritage. Whether you are interested in becoming an interviewer by recording another person’s story or becoming an interviewee by sharing your experience of Custom House, we want to hear from you!

There is also a paid commission and mentor opportunity for a Newham-based young photographer.

Project outputs – oral histories and photographs – will be shared publicly across three formats in summer 2025:

• a photography exhibition at The Humble Gallery (Rosetta Arts);
• printed and digital publications;
• a full-project touring exhibition across Newham Libraries.

Come to our project launch on Saturday 15 June 2024, 11am–1pm, to find out more!

Production image from Jessie Brennan’s Making Space project, a series of four public artworks for Royal Docks, commissioned by UP Projects (2019). Photograph by Alastair Fyfe.

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033.

Over the next ten years, the Heritage Fund aims to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to bring about benefits for people, places and the natural environment.

The Heritage Fund helps protect, transform and share the things from the past that people care about, from popular museums and historic places, our natural environment and fragile species, to the languages and cultural traditions that celebrate who we are.

The Heritage Fund is passionate about heritage and committed to driving innovation and collaboration to make a positive difference to people’s lives today, while leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy.

Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund  www.heritagefund.org.uk

About Royal College of Art

Founded in 1837, the Royal College of Art is the world’s leading university of art and design. Specialising in teaching and research, the RCA offers degrees of MA, MPhil, MFA, MDes, MArch, MEd, MRes, Graduate Diploma and PhD across the disciplines of architecture, arts & humanities, design and communication.

A small, specialist and research-intensive postgraduate university based in the heart of London, the RCA provides 2700 students with unrivalled opportunities to deliver art and design projects that transform the world.

The RCA’s approach is founded on the premise that art, design, creative thinking, science, engineering and technology must all collaborate to solve today’s global challenges.

The RCA is home to more than 700 of the world’s leading academic and professional staff who teach and develop students in 30 academic programmes. RCA students are exposed to new knowledge in a way that encourages them to experiment.

The RCA runs joint courses with Imperial College London and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

InnovationRCA, the university’s centre for enterprise, entrepreneurship, incubation and business support, has helped over 81 RCA business ideas become a reality that has led to the creation of over 800 UK jobs.
Alumni include such major figures as Dame Barbara Hepworth, Bridget Riley, Henry Moore OM, David Hockney OM, Sir Peter Blake, Sir Ridley Scott, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Sir Frank Bowling, Sir James Dyson OM, Tracey Emin RA CBE, Chris Ofili CBE, Sir Anthony Finkelstein, Francesca Amfitheatrof, Erdem Moralıoğlu MBE, Bianca Saunders and Thomas Heatherwick CBE RDI.

The RCA was named the world’s leading university of art and design in the QS World Rankings 2024 for the tenth consecutive year (QS World Subject Rankings 2015-2024). rca.ac.uk

About Newham Heritage Service

Newham Heritage Service collects, preserves, and shares the story of the people, places and things that are important to the Borough of Newham’s heritage. Our collections span seven decades and contain thousands of unique items, including manuscripts, photographs, films, oral histories, objects, artwork, and much more. newham.gov.uk 

About Newham Libraries

There are ten libraries across Newham, each offering a range of services and community activities as well as a fantastic selection of books and other reading material, of course.

Many of our libraries have a busy schedule of regular activities to suit all ages and tastes, from parent and toddler sessions, reading groups and chess to knitting, over 50s club and gentle exercise. newham.gov.uk 

About Rosetta Arts

Rosetta Arts is proud to be a dynamic and diverse organisation, delivering exciting, innovative and creative courses, workshops and experiences for people in east London. We reach out to those who otherwise have little access to the rich and transformative benefits of the arts and education. At the heart of our programming, there is something for all ages and stages of a person’s creative learning and development. Working across gender, disability, age and income, we respond to poverty and inequality by acting as a catalyst for creative talent. rosettaarts.org