Out of the Dark, Thetford

This HLF Young Roots funded project encouraged young people aged 12-16   years in Thetford to find out about the unique and often invisible heritage around them. English Heritage, Thetford Tourism and Heritage Partnership and the Keystone Development Trust worked with artists Grennan and Sperandio to engage the young people and work with them to tell their stories about Thetford’s history in the form of a comic book.

The comic book was researched, art-directed and edited by 32 local teenagers – drawn from local schools as well as the Portuguese community in Thetford, whose stories explore Thetford’s hidden histories and express what heritage means to them. Skaters, members of a local band, Goths and Portuguese dancers worked with cartoonist/facilitators Grennan & Sperandio to create the book in an intense series of workshop situations, working with the various historic sites and venues in Thetford.

 11,000 books have been printed, which are going to be distributed for free by the Education, Youth and Library services. It will be a fantastic piece of interpretation for the Thetford Priory and other heritage sites, which are greatly underused by local families. It will raise the Abbey’s profile within the community and encourage more local visits to the site, as well as bringing Portuguese and other young people together from Thetford to help develop community cohesion.