Sharing our lives
Sharing our Lives is a journey of discovery collecting stories of Thurrock’s migratory history. Thurrock is a diverse area with a vibrant past and lots of exciting stories to tell. The project provides the opportunity for people from this unique area, who have been ‘hidden from history’, to have their voices heard.
Jeremy
‘I walked the same path they walked’
Working with a team of Heritage Champions – a group of local people brought together specifically for this project – we've uncovered memories of journeys into, through and out of Thurrock, both recent and long ago. These stories have been used to inspire a new series of songs, films, oral history recordings, a travelling exhibition, and this website.
Jasvir
‘I come from countryside in India, we got a big farm, everything horses, very enjoyable’
Sharing Our Lives Through Art
Artist Salina Jane has created a number of graphic oral histories depicting the memories captured through the Sharing Our Lives process. These include live sketches, created in situ whilst listening to people sharing their stories, pen and ink pieces focusing individuals, exploring their narratives in more depth, as well as a large-scale charcoal illustration, weaving together the stories of over fifty people from Thurrock into one artwork.
Sharing Our Lives Through Stories
Recording an Oral History preserves an interview in its original form rather than an interpretation of written text. Local volunteer Heritage Champions have been trained in oral history techniques, enabling them to go out and collect stories from the community alongside a professional oral historian.
Inder
Privacy policyInder
‘in Kenya there’s only one university, and I never considered it. So, it was what do you do? I either join my dad’s business or think about something else. And we decided O.K it’s an option for me to take a year out in England to see if it’s an option’
Esther
Privacy policyEsther
'I lived a bit of a double life as a child'
Perola
Privacy policyPerola
‘my parents they were hippies so they travelled a lot around South America on trains, hitch hiking and all that’
Find & Share Your Story
If you have been inspired to discover stories in your own family or community and would like some ideas for how to bring them to life through the arts and creativity, here are some tips and activities to help you get started.
Whether you are someone to wants to find out about your family or community history, a teacher looking to build story finding into a school project or scheme of work, an individual or organisation wanting to embark on story-gathering as an archive-creating process, or someone with some memories you would like to capture, these tools can help you and be adapted for different uses.
There are many ways to record and interpret stories as demonstrated by this project: a written transcription, an audio recording, a film, song or a drawing, or you may want to think about a painting, a poem or a dance.
Today's story is tomorrow's history. Let's capture our stories for future generations to learn about us.
Capturing Stories
Are you interested in finding out more about your own family’s heritage? Is there someone in your community you would love to find out more about? Maybe you have a friend with a story to tell? This section will give you an overview of how to plan, run and capture an interview.
Bringing your story to life through Art
A brilliant way to bring a story to life is through visual art and images. This could be drawing, painting, collage or anything else you choose. Artist Salina Jane gives some top tips and activities to get started.
Bringing Your Story to Life Through Words and Music
For thousands of years stories have been shared through music and lyrics which can be passed on through the generations. Composer Aga Serugo-Lugo and Lyricists Hazel Gould and Capo Lee give some top tips and activities to get started.
Bringing your story to life through Film
There are so many brilliant ways to capture stories on film, many of which can be done with equipment you may well have at home or school. Filmmaker Fotis Begklis gives you some top tips and activities to get started.
Sharing Our Lives On Film
Filmmaker and educator Fotis Begklis has been working with a group of local filmmakers to storyboard, film and edit a series of short films documenting just some of the stories collected so far.
Fotis Begklis and Students from the Gateway Learning Community Gateway to the World
Luiza Sestini Dos Santos Migration Stories from Thurrock
Alan Bright Thurrock’s Sikh Community
Daniel Callow Glory to Ukraine
Fotis Begklis Gateway Academy Learning Community
Sharing Our Lives In Song
Inspired by the stories collected, songwriting workshops took place with Aga Serugo-Lugo, composer, and writers Hazel Gould and Capo Lee. Participants were supported by the professional artists to write their own lyrics and compose their own rhythms to make a piece unique to them.
The Look
Privacy policyThe Look - practice track performed by Thurrock Gospel Choirs
Bursting With Joy
Privacy policyBursting With Joy - GLC Arts Festival performance by The Gateway Learning Community
Welcome To The Estuary
Privacy policyWelcome To The Estuary - Punjabi learning track by The Thames Opera Company
Download The Scores
Play these wonderful compositions with your own community.
A History Of Migration In Thurrock
The first people in Thurrock
If you look back far enough everyone in Thurrock is a migrant. Settlers came out of Africa and started living in Thurrock in the Stone Age. There is 400,000 years of provable human habitation thanks to the stone tools they left behind.
Stone Age tools on display at Thurrock Museum
Invaders! Raiders! ... And peaceful settlers
The Roman empire came to be vast, joining Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Soldiers were recruited from these lands and invaded via Essex in AD 43. Soon after diverse merchants, traders and their families were drawn to Thurrock, thanks to its natural assets and waterways. Evidence of trade and multicultural settlers in Thurrock continues for the next 2,000 years.
Port of Tilbury
Tilbury: A First Impression of Britain
In the 20th and 21st centuries many migrants arriving in Britain docked at Tilbury, including the Empire Windrush in 1948 - now recorded as one of the most significant events in British history – just one of several journeys that gives Thurrock world-wide connections.