Rolling the Dice: Our Community Quest to Define the Hidden Stories of Sunderland’s Cultural and Lived Heritage
This project was made possible thanks to the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and players of the National Lottery. Their investment has enabled us to bring people together, uncover hidden stories and create new ways for communities to engage with Sunderland’s rich and diverse heritage.
“Rolling the Dice” was developed as a community-led project designed to explore the history of Sunderland in a way that feels accessible, engaging and relevant to people today. Through a series of workshops, research sessions and creative activities, participants worked together to rediscover the city’s past and transform it into a board game and a digital learning resource that celebrate Sunderland’s cultural and lived heritage.
At the heart of the project was a commitment to inclusion. We worked with individuals who would not typically access heritage or who may feel excluded from more traditional approaches. This included neurodiverse participants, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people from Eastern European backgrounds and SEND beneficiaries who are often underrepresented in community provision. By creating a welcoming and supportive environment, the project enabled people to take part in a way that felt comfortable, informal and meaningful.
The journey began with a series of guided research sessions, where participants explored Sunderland’s history across different time periods. From its early origins and religious foundations through to industrial growth and modern social change, the project uncovered a wide range of stories that have shaped the city. These sessions were supported by guest speakers and local heritage expertise, including contributions from Sunderland Maritime Heritage, which helped to bring depth and authenticity to the learning.
Learning was not confined to the workshop space. Participants travelled across the city to visit key locations that feature within the project, helping to ground their understanding of heritage in real places and lived environments. These visits gave participants the opportunity to experience Sunderland’s history first-hand and to see how it continues to shape the city today. The group also visited Beamish Museum, where they explored how heritage can be interpreted and shared in immersive and engaging ways. These experiences played an important role in informing the creative direction of the project.
What made this stage particularly powerful was the way participants connected the history they were learning with their own experiences. Discussions were open, reflective and often deeply personal, allowing people to share perspectives and build a broader understanding of Sunderland’s identity. In doing so, the project not only explored heritage but also created space for new narratives to emerge.
Building on this research, participants moved into the creative phase of the project, where they began designing the board game and contributing to the eBook. They explored how stories, events and themes from Sunderland’s history could be translated into gameplay, developing ideas for characters, challenges and mechanics that reflected the city’s heritage. At the same time, they began shaping written content for the eBook, combining historical information with their own interpretations and insights.
This process of co-creation was central to the project’s success. Participants were not simply learning about heritage, but actively shaping how it would be shared with others. The board game and eBook became a collective expression of the group’s experiences, ideas and creativity, ensuring that the final outputs reflected a wide and diverse range of voices.
The completed resources provide a unique and engaging way to explore the city’s history. Designed through community input, the board game invites players to interact with heritage in a hands-on and accessible format, while the digital eBook brings together research, storytelling and creative content in a way that can be used by individuals, schools and community groups alike.
As part of the project’s legacy, copies of the board game have been distributed across Sunderland to community venues and partner organisations, helping to extend the reach of the project into different parts of the city. In addition, a number of games remain at our centre, where members of the public can come in, play the game and engage directly with the heritage and stories it represents. This ensures that the project continues to provide an open and accessible route into local history.
One of the project’s most important achievements is the lasting impact it leaves behind. The board game and digital resources will continue to be used well beyond the life of the project, providing ongoing opportunities for people to explore Sunderland’s history in a way that is interactive, inclusive and accessible. These outputs ensure that the knowledge, stories and creativity developed throughout the project remain available for future audiences.
“Rolling the Dice” has shown that heritage can be something that people actively participate in, rather than something they simply observe. By bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and creating space for shared learning and creativity, the project has helped to strengthen connections between people and place.
Most importantly, it has demonstrated that when communities are given the opportunity to shape how their stories are told, the results are not only more inclusive but more meaningful. Through this project, Sunderland’s heritage has been explored, reimagined and brought to life in a way that will continue to resonate for years to come.
