The Way Forward
The Great Place Scheme for Coalisland and East Tyrone was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to highlight the fascinating industrial heritage of the area. The Lough Neagh Partnership with some additional funding from Mid Ulster District Council hosted a vast range of in person and online events and activities to allow people to experience and engage with the local industrial heritage.
The principal focus of this project is the story of the manufacturing and extraction industries, such as brickworks, potteries, textile mills, glass factories, sand dredging and coal mining.
The final part of the Great Place Scheme was to develop a ‘Forward Plan’ for Coalisland and East Tyrone to continue to celebrate the industrial heritage of this great place well into the future.
Solution/Activity
VentureFolk was appointed to consult and engage local residents and stakeholders and use that input to produce a ‘Forward Plan’ for 2022 - 2025. This plan has since become known locally as ‘The Way Forward’ for Coalisland & East Tyrone.
Rather than host a traditional town hall meeting with tea and buns VentureFolk members decided that any traditional approaches to public consultation were not going to work in this community. Instead, the team decided to bring the Coalisland Experience to life.
Tour guides who were trained as part of the Great Place Scheme showed local guests around the museum while the VentureFolk team facilitated idea sessions and story sharing along the tour. Guests watched special performances from CRAIC Theatre and got to cut and take home some glass ornaments with a workshop from Tyrone Crafted Glass.
Status/Outcome
By facilitating this immersive experience the team uncovered lots of local stories and memories, made connections to local ancestors and legends and ultimately let the people of Coalisland and East Tyrone have a say in how we can celebrate this great place.
As a result of ‘The Way Forward plan for 2022-2025’ a local action group has been formed and applications have been made for projects that will revitalise the existing museum and launch several exciting new experiences, attractions and things to do in Coalisland and East Tyrone, focused on the celebration of the rich industrial heritage in the area.
SDG 8 ‘Decent Work & Economic Growth’, SDG 9 ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure’, SDG 11 ‘Sustainable Cities & Communities’ and SDG 17 ‘Partnership for the Goals’.
