A project chronicling Black history in Stockport - featuring photos, interviews, and more - has earned pride of place at Manchester Central Library.

The collection - simply titled 'Black Lives in Stockport' - features 27 interviews, family photos, and more. It looks at the experience of people of African and Caribbean heritage in Stockport.

As well as local business owners, community leaders, and working people, there are a few famous faces; singer Yvonne Shelton appears in the collection, as does local hero Florence Coke - or Mama Flo, as she is better known to customers of her award-winning Caribbean eatery in Great Moor.

Some of the interviewees have moved to Stockport from countries such as Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, and Jamaica, whilst others were born and raised in the area.

The interviews were recorded by young volunteers working with social enterprise Rising Stars, which offers creative industries experience to young people.

Also involved was the Ebony and Ivory Community Organisation, which runs creative and cultural activities for children and teenagers.

The project was supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. As well as a work of history, the project also aimed to give local young people the opportunity to learn skills including video camera operation, and interviewing.

Singer Yvonne Shelton, one of the voices captured by the project (Image supplied)

Solomon Onaolapo from Rising Stars instigated the project. He said: "I've lived in Stockport since I was 16, having initially moved from Nigeria to London. 

"I knew there was very little information in Stockport's archives about Stopfordians of Black African and Caribbean heritage and the contributions they have made to the local area. I wanted to preserve their untold stories for future generations, so they could gain some understanding of how we lived in twentieth / twenty-first-century Stockport.

"One lady we interviewed, Eleanor Gilbert, unfortunately passed away shortly after we recorded her video. I hope it brings her family some comfort that part of her story will live forever in our town's archives."

Now catalogued and archived at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre (based at Manchester's Central Library), the collection has been preserved for posterity and for future historians.

Laila Benhaida, an archivist at the library, said: "Through these interviews the heritage, culture and traditions that have influenced and shaped Stockport are revealed, and through the archive a legacy for researchers and the community itself has been created.

"Since 2018, we have supported over 70 different heritage projects from global majority community groups and have already taken in over 40 new archive collections.

"This will make the Centre's collections one of the most significant in the UK."

Members of the public can make an appointment to view or listen to any of the Archives' collections by emailing [email protected] or calling 0161 275 2920. The Centre requests 24 hour notice. Follow @AIU on X and IG to keep up to date with further new collections.

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