Student-Led Community History Festival Wins National Award

We are proud to announce that the BHASVIC StoryWorks Project have been awarded the 2026 Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) Award for Art and Culture, recognising the outstanding success of its Community History Festival; a student-led celebration of community history.

 

This prestigious national award highlights the creativity, ambition and impact of StoryWorks, a dynamic programme conceived and delivered by BHASVIC students. The festival brought together local community groups, academics and creative practitioners to explore and share the College's rich and diverse heritage through talks, tours and interactive exhibitions.

 

At the heart of the StoryWorks project is a commitment to student leadership. From research and curation to event management and public engagement, students take ownership at every stage. This hands-on approach not only develops key employability skills but also fosters a deep connection between students and their local community.

 

Alison Cousens (the staff member in charge of the community project) said:

 

The StoryWorks community history project continues to grow. In July, the StoryWorks team is collaborating with staff from the Royal Pavilion & Brighton Museums and the War Graves Commission to run a work experience week, introducing students to the range of career opportunities and skills required to work within the heritage industry and cultural education, and creating content for our next event: a Heritage Open Morning at BHASVIC on Sunday 20 September.

 

We are delighted to celebrate the transformative potential of student-led initiatives in bringing communities together.

Over 500 people from across the country attended the Festival on 28 March. The website has 4.9k unique views. Students created local media coverage (Latest TV and in 'North Laine Runner' Magazine). The Festival was free, but students wanted to raise money to restore some older art pieces around college, so they took donations at the end of tours and on the TicketSource site, as well as designing and selling their own Festival merchandise: in total they have so far raised £3291.54 (donations are still coming in). Many of the old grammar school boys are in their 80s, but they visited on a number of occasions to share stories and artefacts: the shared, positive Mental Health impact for all involved in a cross-generational project like this is hard to measure, but obvious to see. In total, about 30 students and 20 staff volunteers were directly involved on the day, including musicians, tour guides, ushers, cake & merch sellers - but countless other students and staff helped in the creation of content and displays from across departments (English, Visual Arts, Media & Performing Arts, IT, Business, Maths, History - as well as support departments, Finance, Estates, General Office). A genuine community event.

 

The Storyworks Student team now plan to run a Skills Week/Work Experience activity in July for up to 30 of their Year 12 peers, with the help of the War Graves Commission, to research the background to some of the memorial plaques in the Main Hall. This will then form the basis of another open event, as part of the national Heritage Open Days fortnight in September. They are also planning further ghost tours for students as part of 'BHASOWEEN' - the college's annual week of events in October.

 

There are numerous contacts now made with local community groups, who are actively asking to be included in future events, and we see opportunities for fundraising and publicity (The RepairShop).

 

Longer term, there are ideas around 'theming' these open events around different curriculum areas (eg. significant sports alumni, stories or connections; or science-based etc.etc.) and linking with school liaison/admissions/marketing work

 

BHASVIC Storyworks began as a 'living history' enrichment course, whereby students researched the hidden heritage of art and architecture in the college/grammar school and the stories of those whose lives connected to it across 150 years. It ended up as a student-led Festival of Community History for all the family, including tours, talks, music and treasure hunts - as the College opened its doors to all the community across Sussex and beyond, for an inclusive heritage event, uniting 80-year-old ex-grammar school boys with 17-year-old current students in a cross-generational project to celebrate a shared educational origin.

https://www.bhasvicfestival.co.uk/blog