City of many voices
Now the memories that hold all of this — the arrivals, the factory floors, the faith halls, the market stalls — survive in family albums and ageing minds, fragile and at risk. Over two years we will record 100+ oral histories, digitise 150+ heritage items, stage exhibitions and the Festival of Many Voices, reach 1,000+ school pupils, and build this permanent, free digital archive. The next chapter is yours to tell.
The archive
birminghamtogether.org · a living record
Every era on this trail lives on in memory — but memory is fragile. The pioneers of the 1950s are now elders; the photographs, letters, union newsletters, and keepsakes that document these decades sit in drawers and lofts across the city, vulnerable to time, house moves, and loss. Once a voice is gone, it is gone forever. City of Many Voices exists because the time to act is now.
Skyline
A changing city, a growing story
Over two years, from February 2026 to January 2028, we will record more than 100 oral histories with Birmingham's BAME and English working-class elders, digitise over 150 personal heritage items, and publish everything — free, forever — in this digital archive, preserved in partnership with Birmingham Library & Archives. Exhibitions will travel the city's neighbourhoods, the Festival of Many Voices will bring communities together in celebration, and school workshops will connect more than 1,000 pupils with the elders whose stories they inherit.
The project is run by Edu Give CIC from our community hub in Sparkbrook, and built with the communities themselves: volunteers trained as oral historians and Digital Champions, a steering group drawn from across the city, and every story shared on the contributor's own terms. The trail you have just walked is only the beginning — the next chapter is yours to tell. Share a story, lend an item, volunteer, or bring your school on board.