How Preston’s university has influenced the city is to be explored in a new history project.
AdvertisementThe Harris Museum and Art Gallery has teamed up with the University of Central Lancashire Students’ Union to secure nearly £50,000 towards a range of exhibitions.
During the next 19 months curators and student researchers will look at how the city has changed and what role UCLan – or the Institute of Diffusion of Knowledge as it was originally known – has played in it.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has stumped up £49,700 to help the exhibitions and historical tours come to life.
UCLan SU President, Josie Linsel, said: “It’s brilliant news that our Students’ Union has been awarded funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
“The project will create exciting new ways for our UCLan students to connect with the history, heritage and communities of Preston and the wider area. I can’t wait to see what the students achieve.”
Alongside exhibitions a new local history app is to be created called UCLan through the ages.
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James Arnold, history curator at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery, said: “This project is a fantastic opportunity to bring students into contact with Preston’s rich heritage through the collections at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery. Students will have the opportunity to use photographs and maps to look at the architectural heritage of Preston and the stories behind the intriguing objects on display and in storage.”
Sara Hilton, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North West, said: “Preston’s heritage offers a rich resource for education and it’s wonderful to see it being used by UCLan in such an interesting way, giving the students involved the chance to explore and share Preston’s, and wider Lancashire’s, intriguing history with the public. This project has been made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players and we can’t wait to see what it achieves.”