Black South West Network Awarded £1.25 Million Grant

Sado Jirde, director of the Black South West Network

The Black South West Network (BSWN) has secured £1.25 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to bring the UnMuseum to life. A bold, community-driven initiative to preserve, celebrate and reclaim the cultural heritage of Black and racially minoritised communities across the South West of England.

There are no glass cases, no dusty exhibits, no gatekeepers deciding whose history gets told. The UnMuseum is something different entirely — a living, breathing project built around the voices of the people who carry that heritage every day.

Rooted in Community, Built for the Future

Director Sado Jirde, who has led BSWN since 2013 and transformed it into one of the UK's most respected racial justice organisations, has been quietly laying the groundwork for this moment. Over 18 months, BSWN engaged with communities across Bristol, Gloucester, Bath, Plymouth and Bournemouth. They've been listening, learning, and documenting the sheer breadth of Black experience in a region that is often left out of the national conversation on Black British life.

What emerged was clear: people wanted ownership of their own stories. According to Jirde,

For far too long, our stories have been marginalised, misrepresented, or left out entirely

The UnMuseum is about communities defining their own narratives, on their own terms

What the UnMuseum Will Deliver

Over the next three years, the project will roll out across several strands. Community collecting days will bring people together to contribute photographs, documents and personal stories. Events and workshops will explore Black identity in all its complexity. A digital archive of oral histories, particularly those most at risk of disappearing, will be built, capturing the wisdom and lived experience of older generations to pass on to younger ones.

At the heart of it all will be BSWN's Coach House venue in St Paul's, Bristol. It serves as a space leased from Bristol City Council that Jirde says will be transformed into "a unique and dynamic social innovation hub." Plans to refurbish the building are already in development, with the aim of creating a permanent home for this work and the community it serves.

The project will culminate in a major festival in 2027 — a celebration of Black identity and belonging, bringing together performances, exhibitions and voices from across the South West.

The Effect

The South West is home to over 650,000 people from Black and racially minoritised backgrounds, representing 107 nationalities and more than 90 languages. Yet access to cultural spaces that reflect that reality has historically been limited — and the stories told within mainstream heritage institutions have rarely centred Black perspectives.

The UnMuseum directly addresses that imbalance.

"It's actually rebalancing power," Jirde explained, "giving communities the ability to tell the stories that they want to hear and stories that mean something to them."

For Jirde, one thread runs through all of it: preservation. How do we capture the knowledge of our elders before it's gone? How do we pass it forward? Those aren't just cultural questions — they're urgent ones.

Excellence in Action

Sado Jirde is no stranger to turning vision into reality. Since taking the helm at BSWN, she has repositioned the organisation from a regional support body into a nationally recognised racial justice incubator. She sits on Bristol's One City Economy Board, serves as Vice-Chair of the Bristol Old Vic, and has been recognised with the African Achievers Award and the Most Inspirational Role Model Award among other accolades.

The UnMuseum is the next chapter in that legacy.

"This project will create a lasting legacy," said Jirde, "not in a glass case, but in the lives, voices and creative expressions of the people who carry this heritage every day."

Learn more about the Black South West Network at blacksouthwestnetwork.org