Stockport Independent Issue 180

AUGUST 2024 4 LIFE Leisure in Stock- port has introduced two new sports to help fam- ilies keep active during the summer through rain or shine. As well as installing Greater Manchester’s first indoor padel court, which means players can play in all seasons, the borough’s leisure provider has also introduced free coffee and curling sessions. Suitable for all ages and abilities, curling is being offered for free at Stockport Sports Village every Thurs- day from 10.30am - 12.30pm, with padel sessions available to guests and members at Life Leisure Houldsworth Village, based in Reddish. Padel is a more dynamic sport but still considered more family-friendly due to its smaller court size and simplified rules. Kingsley Child, general manager at Life Leisure Houldsworth Village, said: “We’re excited to introduce curling and padel to our long list of activities at Life Leisure, including installing Greater Manchester’s first indoor padel court. “Padel – which was invented in Mexico in the 1960s - is becoming increasingly popu- lar across the world, including here in Greater Manchester. “Unfortunately, we don’t enjoy the same weather ben- efits Mexico, so we thought it best to create an indoor court so that residents can enjoy the game all year round.” Saksham Taneja, from Sale, regularly plays padel with pals Naser Jaberi Khor- mooji, Omid Shahriari Zave- reh and Arjan Dhillon. He said: “Padel is the new addictive sport that I am always excited to play and much prefer it to tennis because of its fast paced and accessible nature. Naser added: “We live in Sale and travel to the court almost every morning! The court is well maintained, the staff are awesome and the sport is so much fun.” Anyone looking to get active this summer is invited to try out the court at Life Leisure Houldsworth Village in Reddish. The free ‘Coffee and Curl- ing’ sessions take place at Stockport Sports Vil- lage every Thursday from 10.30am-12.30pm. Life Leisure run nine hubs across Stockport. Other fam- ily friendly activities include five swimming pools with slides and family friendly ses- sions, eight gyms and group exercise classes. AN important collection of interviews, reveal- ing stories of Black lives in Stockport, has been preserved for future generations. The recordings uncover the life stories of ordinary local working people, business owners, community leaders, and unsung heroes of African and Caribbean heritage. Amongst their number are some higher profile individu- als, including singer Yvonne Shelton, who has performed with Doves, Simply Red, Blossoms and Beautiful South and Florence Coke, who runs the popular Mama Flo’s Jamaican restaurant in Great Moor. Some of the interviewees have moved to Stockport from countries such as Zim- babwe, Nigeria, Ghana, and Jamaica, whilst others were born and raised in the area. The interviews – 27 in total – were recorded by young volunteers working with social enterprise Ris- ing Stars, which offers crea- tive industries experience to young people and Ebony and Ivory Community Organi- sation, which runs creative and cultural activities for children and teenagers. The project, called Black Lives in Stockport, was sup- ported by the National Lot- tery Heritage Fund and gave local young people the oppor- tunity to learn skills includ- ing video camera operation, running focus groups and interview techniques. Now, the interviews, along with a number of donated family photos, have been catalogued and archived for future generations by staff at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre, which is based at Manchester’s Central Library. The preservation of com- munity projects from global majority groups has been part of a six-year National A summer of sport – whatever the weather! Centre court: Naser Jaberi Khormooji, Omid Shahriari Zavereh, Arjan Dhillon and Saksham Taneja are regular players Story: Stephen McDonald, another of the voices recorded by the Black History in Stockport project, as a baby Black History project finds new home Heritage: Solomon Onaolapo and Aba Graham of the Black History in Stockport project Voice: Florence Coke, owner of Mama Flo’s Singer: Yvonne Shelton, one of the voices captured by the project Lottery Heritage Fund sup- ported project called Coming In From The Cold. The project saw experts from the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust support community groups to collect and preserve a range of mate- rial including oral and video histories interviews, photo- graphs and papers. The archived collection will be transferred to Stockport Library archives, when they are reopened to the public at Stockroom, a universal learn- ing and discovery space at the heart of Merseyway, due to open at the end of 2024. Solomon Onaolapo from Rising Stars instigated the project. He said: “I’ve lived in Stockport since I was 16, having initially moved from Nigeria to London. “I knew there was very lit- tle information in Stockport’s archives about Stopfordians of Black African and Carib- bean heritage and the con- tributions they have made to the local area. “I wanted to preserve their untold stories for future generations, so they could gain some understanding of how we lived in 20th and 21st century Stockport. One lady we interviewed, Elea- nor Gilbert, unfortunately passed away shortly after we recorded her video. I hope it brings her family some comfort that part of her story will live forever in our town’s archives.” Laila Benhaida, com- munity archivist, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust, said: “Through these interviews the heritage, culture and tra- ditions that have influenced and shaped Stockport are revealed, and through the archive a legacy for research- ers and the community itself has been created. “Since 2018, we have supported over 70 differ- ent heritage projects from global majority community groups and have already taken in over 40 new archive collections. This will make the centre’s collections one of the most significant in the UK. “The Coming In From the Cold project has been impor- tant in that it has led to an increase in diversity of mate- rial in our public archives, both in terms of heritage as well as representation in Greater Manchester. “It is also important because the material was collected through projects that were led and shaped by the communities themselves.” Members of the public can make an appointment to view or listen to any of the archives’ collections by emailing rrarchive@man- chester.ac.uk or calling 0161 275 2920.