The stories of people and communities new to Northern Ireland are set to be recorded and saved for now and future generations with the launch of an oral history and digital storytelling project. 

North-Belfast-based Polish community organisation Dom Polski has secured £55,125 support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the “Coming of Age” Project.

The project will explore and document the migration stories of Polish and other ethnic minority communities living in Northern Ireland, with a focus on North Belfast. 

A key element will be the recording of oral histories, capturing personal and family experiences of migration, identity, and belonging. These stories will be shared through a dedicated website, an online exhibition, and a printed booklet to ensure broad public access.

A freelance Project Co-ordinator will work with communities and support volunteers to deliver the project. 

The project will offer volunteering opportunities for local people and provide receive training in oral history gathering, interview techniques, and digital storytelling.

Volunteers will also be given the opportunity to visit the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) to learn about heritage documentation methods and local history research.

The project will strengthen community ties, encourage intercultural understanding, and offer participants meaningful ways to contribute to preserving shared heritage.

Jerome Mullen, Chairperson of Dom Polski, said: “We are incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for making this project possible. This support enables us to record the stories of our community and share them widely. It also lays important groundwork for our longer-term ambition to create a Polish House in North Belfast.”

Paul Mullan, Director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Northern Ireland, said: “Anyone visiting Dom Polski’s social media will quickly see the diversity of stories on how individuals and families came to settle here in Northern Ireland, and the value placed on sharing the heritage brought with them and embracing a new shared heritage.

“This project is well timed to properly record and document those stories for the future while also delivering valuable training opportunities and developing new skills with the volunteers.”  

The project will run over the next year with a range of public activities, storytelling sessions, and volunteer-led initiatives planned across North Belfast and beyond.

The official launch event will be held on Thursday, 20 November 2025, 6- 8 pm, at Clifton House, 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, BT15 1ES. 

ENDS.

Notes for editors

For more information about Coming of Age or to get involved, please contact:
Jerome Mullen, Dom Polski Chairperson on 07836734040, or Kasia Garbal, Project Coordinator on 07735513355. 

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund 

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That is why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places, and communities.

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