The curtains came down on the Legacy of Industrial Textiles Enterprise (LITE) Project at Soho Museum, Birmingham, West Midlands on the evening of 27 September 2018. In the presence of a diverse and appreciative audience, Community Education Academy of Leadership (CEAL) made history once more, by hosting the finale of the 18-month LITE initiative.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) supported the LITE which chronicled the unsung contribution of Africans, Caribbeans and South Asians from Birmingham, Sandwell and Wolverhampton, to British textiles. The aim was to nurture, preserve and disseminate through oral interviews, collections and publication, aspects of the industry in which migrants contributed – as employers and employees respectively.
Chair of the HLF West Midlands Committee and former BBC presenter, Sue Beardsmore, congratulated CEAL for successfully completing the LITE project. “The Lottery is always interested in funding projects that benefit both communities and organisations and above all, the local heritage. The LITE project certainly did that”, she praised.
Project Manager, Harminder Kaur Bhogal gave a project overview by highlighting the achievements of three migrant-generations in the West Midlands textiles industry. She thanked the Lottery for its support and commended CEAL’s staff, volunteers, participating groups and supporters, for making the project highly successful. Priya Bhambra gave a moving testimony on the identity quest and emphasised that the LITE helped to create for her, a better understanding of a ‘British identity’. Teenager, Sanjay Teji, felt enlightened after reading interview transcripts on the involvement in textiles by first and second-generation migrants. Another LITE participant, Hepsie Monica Hibbert, testified to using certain machines and equipment as a textiles worker. She referred to the transition from textiles to professional social work and emphasised the necessity for continuous education and training.
Award-winning author and Chair of CEAL, Dr Christopher A. Johnson, spoke about the LITE project within the broader context of migrant settlers’ contribution to British economic history. “We plan to expand this industrial heritage beyond the confines of the Midlands and we need as much support as possible”, he exhorted.
The evening’s proceedings were interspersed by a cultural ensemble, featuring former textile employee and LITE project volunteer, Nadia Vasi who performed a classic dance piece. Managing Director of East End Foods, Jasbir Wouhra, sang timeless Bollywood-style songs, as they both wowed the appreciative audience.
At the end of the formal proceedings, CEAL invited the audience to attend the LITE exhibition to view the ‘revealing stories’ of each participant’s personal journey in the textiles industry from 1950-2000.
