Monthly Archives: March 2016

Fortune favours only prepared minds

It has been a busy couple of weeks catching up with various projects in various stages of development.

The FST – Federation of Scottish Theatre – Emporium at Musselburgh led to a series of interesting conversations and opportunities. Following ‘Kiss and Tell’ our day of stories for Syria I received a tip to read ‘Hinterland’ by Caroline Brothers. If you are interested in journeys and the experience of migrants and haven’t read it yet – do so!

This moving journey chimes with our theme of economic migration. How far are we prepared to travel to feed our bairns and what can we learn from those who travelled the road before us?

We are currently on the funding trail for our next project “Come Awa!” which will search out and work with stories about the gutting quines, the herring girls’ annual migration and how the different coastal communities welcomed them as they followed the herring around the coast of Scotland and down the east coast all the way to Yarmouth Town.

May the road rise up to meet us!

Liz Balfour kindly made us a willow creel
Liz Balfour kindly made us a willow creel

Building community – ripples in the pond.

The Thrive Archive’s mission is to enable diverse communities to tell their own story in their own way so we were delighted to hear about the success of ‘Heave Awa’.

Last week The Newhaven Community Choir proudly presented ‘Heave Awa’ an evening packed with story and song. Written by three local residents for the Newhaven Community Choir ‘Heave Awa’ was performed to an appreciative crowd at David Lloyd Newhaven.

The venue was appropriate as 100 years ago the land on which the sports centre stands was yet to be reclaimed and, with a tight knit community and a bounty of local shops, Newhaven was thriving.

Written by choir members Dougie, Sophia and George ‘Heave Awa’ complemented an exhibition of photographs, taken in Newhaven in the 50’s, curated by the Newhaven Heritage Group. The exhibition, that shows images of the village before ‘the clearances’ in the 60’s, is now on tour to Victoria Primary School and Ocean Terminal in Leith.

When the local heritage group were faced with a tight budget these three feisty and canny Bowtow’s – all with many a story to tell – stepped up to the plate and wrote ‘Heave Awa’. Donations from the audience were then split between the heritage group and the choir to top up the funds of these two important community resources.

Storyteller Marie Louise Cochrane, our curator Jan Bee Brown and Willow Weaver Liz Balfour had the pleasure of working with Newhaven Community Choir last year to create ‘Caller-Ou!’ at the National Library of Scotland.

Many congratulations to all concerned it’s great to see this ripple in the pond! The Thrive Archive is doing exactly what it says on the tin!