About Past Truisms CIC
Past Truisms was set up because so much of the history of our communities has never been properly told. It exists in local archives, in dialect words, in the stories people carry around in their heads but rarely get the chance to share. We work with communities to uncover that history - through writing, storytelling, performance, dialect and the arts - and to create spaces where people from very different backgrounds end up having conversations they didn't expect to have.
We bring people together around something they're genuinely curious about: the place where they live, the people who shaped it and the every day elements of human life that we all have in common.
We believe in the power of heritage and storytelling to unite communities and create positive change. Our focus is on empowering individuals from all backgrounds to come together, share their stories, and build a brighter future for all.
Our Mission
Past Truisms brings people together through original research, through the arts and through the stories that have shaped the places where we all live - but that have rarely been told or shared in public.
We work in libraries, community centres, churches, mosques, schools and heritage sites, with people from every background and with no specialist knowledge required. Our workshops, talks, dialect sessions and public events are always free and open to everyone.
We believe that history belongs to all of us - not just to those whose names end up in textbooks. So we go searching for the ones who were overlooked.
And we bring what we discover ... back to the communities those people came from.
Our Vision
Our vision is working towards a country where people know the full history of the place they call home - not just the parts that make it into the educational curriculum or the textbooks - and where that shared knowledge becomes a reason to connect rather than a reason to divide.