Community organisation, The Red Archive, have been awarded £9,995 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their ‘RED Archive Caravan Tour’
The caravan will be transformed into a ‘fan’s bedroom’ as it hits the road and will be accompanied by a series of events for everyone to enjoy.
Led by fans, The RED Archive have been working on creating an extensive and evocative collection of Liverpool Football Club fans’ personal photos and stories over the last six years.
Having recently refurbished a small touring caravan thanks to a crowdfunding campaign, the community organisation are now looking to take it on the road, thanks to funding made possible by National Lottery players.
A grant of nearly £10,000 has been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the ‘RED Archive Caravan Tour’ to travel around Merseyside and showcase how football can bring communities together and inject a great sense of local pride amongst fans.
The funding will enable The RED Archive to create a new ‘fan’s bedroom’ display within their caravan. The new exhibition will be based on nostalgic images from their archive, which have been donated by fans spanning a time period from the 1960s to the 90s.
The caravan will hit the road during August, September and October 2022 and stop off at various venues in Merseyside, including The Life Rooms, The Florrie, The Greenhouse Project and Merseyside Society for Deaf People. As well as hosting the caravan, each venue will also see a pop-up exhibition and an array of family friendly activities allowing visitors to get hands-on with football heritage.
Not content with already holding over 1000 images and striking examples of Liverpool FC memorabilia, the team at The RED Archive will also use the tour to expand their collection. People will be able to record their own memories as vox pops to be added to the archive. The team will also identify a number of fans to take part in more extensive sessions to add their treasured memories and memorabilia to the collection.
Emma Case, Founder of The RED Archive, said:
“It’s hard to articulate our joy knowing that we’ve received this funding! It’s been a long journey getting the caravan ready (especially with the pandemic) and the fans have been with us and supported us every step of the way. We cannot wait to get the caravan out into the heart of our fan community, to local spaces around the city. To share the archive, to bring fans together and to say a massive thank you to all of them for believing in The RED Archive.”
David Renwick, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:
“Football has proven time and time again that it can bring people of all backgrounds and all ages together. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we’re thrilled to be supporting The RED Archive to share the amazing and inspiring heritage of the fans behind the world famous football club. The North of England is steeped in sporting heritage and we know it is a great way for communities to connect and find pride of place in their hometowns and cities, that in turn can deliver a host of much wider social and even economic benefits.”
The dates for the RED Archive Caravan tour are:
- FRIDAY 12th AUGUST: Greenhouse Project (Lodge Lane) – as part of the LFC Foundation’s ‘Big Red Festival’
- SUNDAY 18th SEPTEMBER: Merseyside Society for Deaf People
- Tuesday 20th SEPTEMBER: HMP Liverpool
The tour will call at the Life Rooms in Walton, Bootle and Belle Vale in October, with a date at The Florrie still TBC.
