STORIES FROM SHIELDS
“South Shields is not just a place to visit - it is a place people feel, remember, and return to.”
Another project for us at Local Heroes.
Stories From Shields is a neighbourhood Pilot has successfully captured and articulated a distinctive sense of place rooted in food, coastline and community identity.
Through storytelling, creative production, and placemaking, the project has developed a compelling narrative grounded in real voices and lived experience.
At its core, the pilot demonstrates that South Shields’ greatest strength lies not only in its assets, but in its stories - stories that connect people to place through memory, culture, and emotion.
The programme has created a strong foundation of content, identity, and engagement.
Stories
RICHARD | COLMANS of south shields
“I would love my kids to come into the business, and take it further, and see if we can get to 200 years”
RAY | WESTOVIAN THEATRE
“We’ve welcomed people from around the world for hundred’s of years. Long may that happen.”
shah | Delhi 6
“They really shaped my understanding of what community is all about.”
Padma | Sangini
“I’ve now lived in this country now more than 40 years, so my sense of community has now grown”
Joe | MINCHELLA & CO
“Minchellas ice cream is so interwoven within South Shields. We’ve been selling ice cream here for 90 years.”
KATH | THE STEAMBOAT
“We did a shared Christmas dinner... because I couldn't bear the thought of people being by themselves on Christmas Day.”
Andy & Tom| SANDDANCER CLOTHING
“Sanddancer means something to them… Shields means something to them.”
ELENA | DICKSONS
“My Aunt Christine… She was the one who made the business survive when my Grandfather died”
mohammed | Star of india
“I travel for food, I used to go 40-50 countries my life, for food, so I know the food”
MICHAEL | LAKESHORE RAILROAD
“Dug the track out, laid the track, all done by hand… About June of 1972 the full circle, and we’ve been going ever since”