Haywards Heath's untold stories: New community project launched to capture memories, stories, and artwork.

‘Our Town Our Story’ is a new community storytelling project, backed by Arts Council England and National Lottery funding, which launched on Saturday (September 12th) with an aim to capture the untold stories of Haywards Heath before they disappear for good.

Led by three local authors, Matt Newnham, Iain Maclean and Nicholas Caunter, the project aims for the legacy of Haywards heath to be preserved in published books and a lasting community archive.

The project launched at Haywards Heath Town Day, an annual community celebration event held in Victoria Park.

Maclean commented on the success of the launch: “The launch at Town Day went exceptionally well.”

“People were genuinely pleased to come and talk to us, and keen to get involved. Our 15 minutes on the main stage gave us the chance to bring some of them up, including Duncan Pascoe, the Mayor, who gave us a wonderful and unexpected boost by telling everyone how important he feels the project is, and how pleased he is to be supporting it.”

Our Town Our Story is set to deliver a series of storytelling, writing, and illustrating workshops in local secondary and primary schools.

Piloting from September 2026 to late February 2027, the community led project has been introduced in the National Year of Reading 2026.

The group will be running community workshops and story-gathering events across Haywards Heath and the surrounding villages, starting with an event already planned at Dolphin Leisure Centre on Saturday 26th September, 1pm to 5pm. The event is open for people to come along to share their stories and be shown how to write, document and illustrate them by professionals.

Haywards Heath Library is also involved and will host story-gathering and read-aloud sessions. The group will also be running tea (or coffee) and chat sessions from Bentswood to Bolnore to gather stories and teach a little about storytelling.

The project plans to display artwork, and potentially collages created by primary schools, depicting the stories of Haywards Heath and surrounds at The Orchards Shopping Centre.

Local children’s author Matt Newnham commented: “I think we’re all linked by place,” said Newnham. “It might be the town where we were born, or the town we moved to. But

however we ended up here, the town where we live forms a vital part of our shared identity. There are many, many stories here, and if they’re not captured soon, there’s a strong chance they’ll be lost for good.”

For Maclean, the urgency is personal. His novel T.J’s War began as a search for the truth about his father, who died when Iain was ten. During his research, several people who could have shared vital memories passed away before he had the chance to speak to them properly.

“It was a harsh lesson, and a sad one,” he said. “All too often there isn’t quite as much time as we hope there is.”

Caunter, a writer and qualified editor, will help turn the towns stories into finished books said: “People often think their own story isn’t worth telling, and they’re almost always

wrong”

“Part of our job is to give those memories the care and craft they deserve, so people see their own lives set down properly on the page.”

The three are joined by artists and illustrators Rachel Cowell and Amy Vincent, along with a team of volunteers. The project already has the backing of Town Mayor Cllr Duncan Pascoe, the Town Council, local schools, museums and the library. If the pilot succeeds, the team hopes to bring the model to other towns.

The project has encouraged churches and places of worship to get involved, already supported by local author and church leader John Twistleton- who has already published two books dedicated to Haywards Heath and recently launched a new book about neighbouring town, Burgess Hill.

Overall, the projects aim is to create a sense of belonging and place by bringing people of all cultures and generations together.

To find out more, submit a story or to volunteer visit www.ourtownourstory.com.