Funding application by Prof Yota Dimitriadi

April 2023

Context

In 2021 funding from John Sykes Foundation in collaboration with the University of Reading Community Fund enabled a successful collaborative project between UoR academics and community partners. #ROCuP (Reading Old Cemetery undertaking Project) focused on researching Reading’s heritage through commemorating people buried in Reading Old Cemetery. Key outputs from #ROCuP include a commemorative website with around 100 life stories from people buried in the cemetery, a free family-focused audio guide in the style of Horrible Histories and a series of podcasts (to be broadcasted soon).  The ethos of the project is to allow our Reading communities (and beyond) free access to these resources and contribute to sharing glimpses of the history of Reading and how these glimpses relate to current topics around grief, bereavement, commemoration, decolonisation or necropolitics and funeral poverty.  

Aim of the proposed project

This next phase of the collaborative project focuses on the publication of a book on Reading Old Cemetery under the auspices of Two Rivers Press, the celebrated local publishing house. The publication is part-funded by RGSpaces, a well-known local charity with a strong focus on enabling community ventures and supporting community engagement.   Twelve contributors, academic and practitioner-focused are collaborating in the proposed book with illustrations from another celebrated local artist, Jenny Halstead.   At the moment, and as a result of the generous support by RGSpaces, the estimated retail price for the book is at £12. Whilst we recognise that this price is quite competitive, we also want the book to be accessible and affordable to as wide an audience as possible. Reducing the price by £2 and bringing down the retail price to £10 under the current cost of living crisis can make the book more affordable. Such option will also allow us to get 100 free copies that we can distribute to local schools and enable wider dissemination of the #ROCuP project and extend conversations around Reading Old Cemetery, this hidden gem of local history, architecture and ecology. The book will be published at the end of 2024.  

Funding request

  We are applying for the total amount of £1,000 as this sum will enable us to reduce the retail price for the book to £10. It will also give us access to 100 copies of the book that will be disseminated to:

1. Schools that approach us via #ROCuP and visit Reading Old Cemetery
2. Schools that are unable to visit the site due to access restrictions
3. History Departments of local Secondary Schools
4. As a prize for a proposed school competition