Record shops plaque on Harlesden High Street
Brent Museum and Archives and Young Brent Foundation have collaborated to bring together young people; training and empowering them to undertake their own research and highlight the history of Harlesden.
Harlesden Trailblazers is an audio-visual portrait of Harlesden and its history. A trail of plaques have been mounted at points around Harlesden High Street to allow passers-by to scan QR codes to learn about the local area through online audio, videos, images and articles.
Young people looking at source material from the Brent Museum and Archives collection.
Through a series of workshops, held in autumn 2021, a group of young people undertook research into Brent Museum and Archives collections including diverse oral histories. They conducted interviews of their own with members of the local community.
The young people have chosen the locations and histories to share on this tour. They have learnt research skills and how to tell captivating stories about history.
Harlesden Trailblazers: Young people in Harlesden while researching.
The young people discussed places, themes and subject matter about Harlesden that were important to them. Through discussion and research, they arrived at a selection of sites across Harlesden to celebrate. They conducted interviews with members of the local community, highlighting people’s lived experiences and richly diverse memories of life in Brent.
When asked what the young people felt they had learned, they said, ‘research’, ‘interview skills,’ and creative researcher Suleqa Warsame added, “I’d say general confidence, honestly.”
Drawing on people’s lived experiences, memories and highlighting the rich history of Brent’s diverse communities Harlesden Trailblazers brings alive Harlesden’s history in the places that mean the most.
Map of Location of plaques on route
The trail, landmarks and all the rich, audio-visual content can be explored via the Harlesden Trailblazers website.
It is fantastic that these young people really engaged with the community and we can now see their hard work around Harlesden. They should feel very proud of what they’ve achieved and learnt through this process. I hope we can use this opportunity to work with other young people around Brent to launch similar initiatives.
Whilst we have been teaching the young people research skills, we have learned as much from them, in terms of what’s important to them. It has been a truly collaborative process and one we hope to take forward into new projects, both in Harlesden and across the borough.
Local member of community pointing at plaque for ‘Haircuts and Heroes’
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