“Sam has a profound understanding of community heritage and its significance, and a wonderful ability to grasp the essence of a project. She guided me through the Heritage Lottery funding application process with warmth and understanding, enabling me to focus my ideas and establish contacts within the academic community. Thanks to her, the project has gained so much.”

Nicola Lane, artist and filmmaker, Pegleg Productions

I am an oral historian, project manager, learning facilitator, and community heritage consultant with twenty years experience across a diverse range of projects in both community heritage and academic research.

I am experienced in managing and assisting community heritage projects and recruiting, training and supporting volunteers. I have co-written and supported the development of successful funding applications and am experienced in responding to funding requirements such as writing reports, chairing steering groups and managing budgets. I can offer advice and guidance for developing projects, identifying potential funding streams and supporting bids. Projects I have worked on have resulted in a variety of outputs that I have directly participated in producing, such as books, exhibitions, websites, films, learning resources, soundscapes and dramatic productions. I understand the acute importance of careful attention to ethical issues and sensitivities when working with community groups and life histories, such as confidentiality, personal safety and obtaining informed consent and I am committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity. I am also comfortable to liaise with the media to promote projects.

I am currently employed at the University of Brighton as the Research Centre Administrator for the Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories (CMNH) and am part of their Steering Group as Community Historian. I was the Community Heritage Researcher for the AHRC funded Public Engagement Centre ‘Gateways to the First World War’ which supported seventy-three community organisations from fifty-three UK constituencies to make funding applications to the HLF and the Arts Council for heritage projects across the centenary. I am a published historian and have delivered papers at a variety of international conferences. My teaching experience includes postgraduate, undergraduate and community volunteer training. At the University of Sussex, I taught on the MA in Life History Research and the MA in Autobiographical Approaches to Lifelong Learning and facilitated public history placements for students. I also co-developed access level courses and managed a tutor team.

Over the years my responsibilities have also involved planning and organising conferences, symposia, seminar series, project launches, celebratory events and exhibitions. Whilst I enjoy the stimulation and vibrancy of the university setting, I mostly thrive in the community heritage setting. I delight in change, learning new skills and engaging with new communities. Those I have worked with are too broad to list here, but they include include villagers from rural Sussex, youth groups in Tottenham, hospital workers, transgender people, the Deaf community, asylum seekers, migrants and the homeless. I can work independently or as a team member and am comfortable in either setting.