Moss Side Stories is a multimedia project that enables the pupils of The Manchester Academy (a high school that serves the communities of Moss Side, Hulme and Rusholme) to explore their own, often extraordinary, life stories in the form of autobiographical writing, video art and dramatic performance.

Opening up the facilities and expertise of the university through a series of professionally facilitated workshops, video shoots and rehearsals, Moss Side Stories will culminate in a multimedia exhibition to be hosted by MMU in the summer of 2009.

As such, Moss Side Stories will allow MMU students to gain CV-building experience in the fields of creative writing, drama and video production whilst giving Academy students, who between them speak some 63 languages, a personal knowledge of their local university and the self-esteem necessary to apply for a place in higher education, should they so choose, when the time comes.

Visit the project’s website

The ubiquity of mobile phones and services such as Facebook means that people are increasingly fascinated by computing technologies.

Learning to write simple software will allow people to take their computing skills to the ‘next level’. Manchester MetHODS will demystify computers, and show, using workshops, how easy it is to create (rather than simply use) interesting and useful software.

I have strong confirmed support from ArcSpace Manchester, a community cluster based in Hulme that will offer an ideal foundational partnership.

Apart from the obvious skills benefits, participants will be encouraged to view software development as an inherently creative process. The word ‘Open’ is key; in the spirit of other community projects, we will use open-source software, but, in a more general sense, the project will be open to all.

Main objectives:

1. Build sustainable connections with community groups,
2. Empower local people,
3. Lay foundations for a proposal to support future expansion.

This collaboration is a celebration of Hulme past, present and future. It will explore the stories and histories of its people using the notion of home. Creativity, making, skill sharing, and joint endeavour are all key.

Hulme through maps new and old will be stitched and drawn, also places/countries once called home. The threshold and what this means for different cultures is another theme. This involves making and documenting features such as doormats, graffiti, hanging baskets and house numbers and names.

Partners include Harp (Health, Advocacy and Resource Project) Hulme Community Garden Centre, Hulme schools and Library, the Claremont Resource Centre, Venture Arts (adults with learning disabilities), Zion Centre and local cafes and shops. Working alongside MMU students is implicit within the project.

The culmination will be an event showcasing the outcomes, both an affirmation and a celebration of the strength and diversity of Hulme throughout many changes.