A PREVIOUSLY inaccessible archive of more than 500 films of Bradford's Ukrainian community is being unlocked for the first time.

Yorkshire Film Archive has announced a project that will catalogue and open up the Ukrainian Video Archives Society collection to researchers and the public. The work is funded by a £33,350 grant from Archives Revealed, a partnership between The National Archives, The Pilgrim Trust and the Wolfson Foundation, and the only funding stream in the UK dedicated to cataloguing and unlocking archives.

The Ukrainian Video Archives Society Collection (UVAS) was created in 1983 to record the life of Ukrainians in Bradford to pass on to future generations, capturing their cultures, traditions and communities in over 500 films, made over 30 years. Recorded on video tape, the original collection is now being preserved and prioritised for digitisation by the Yorkshire Film Archive (YFA).

Megan McCooley, YFA Collections Manager, said: “We're incredibly excited to begin work on this significant collection being preserved at the Archive, to give everyone the opportunity to learn about the history of the Ukrainian community and its contribution to the rich, diverse culture of Bradford. The UVAS have always wanted their collection to be seen, to share their stories, and thanks to the Archives Revealed fund, we can now take that first step in making that possible.”

Bradford Council chief executive Kersten England, who lent her support to the project, said, “As the UK’s youngest city it's important for our young people to understand the diverse heritage of the district and the contributions made by its different communities. And as the first UNESCO City of Film, it's fitting that we use the medium of film to tell our stories, deepen our understanding of our place and people and bring new opportunities to engage with wider audiences. This remarkable collection does exactly that.”

Bohdan Lanovy and Michael Fedyszyn from UVAS added: “The Ukrainian Video Archives Society would like to thank the YFA for their support and commitment to working with us, in preserving the Ukrainian community’s heritage for future generations.”

Dr Valerie Johnson, Director of Collections and Research at The National Archives, said: “The phrase ‘cataloguing a collection’ only begins to hint at the immense impact these projects will have for communities and researchers. By cataloguing archives, we can reveal hidden stories representing the lives of people across the UK and help people access these records for the first time.”