Here to Stay was a year-long oral history project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and hosted by Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre in 2005.

Over 130 interviews captured the memories of Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani people who came to live in Tameside, in their own words. Most interviewees talk about their family and early life, migration to the UK, along with their work, home life and community involvement. Interviews were recorded in whatever language the interviewee was happy with (including Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Pothwari, Punjabi and Urdu) but almost all have been transcribed into English.
The oral history project also collected related material, including photographs and family or business papers from many of the interviewees. Original minidiscs are held at Manchester Central Library; with duplicate transfers on CD and summaries and transcripts for almost all of the interviews held at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre.
English language playlist created by one of our volunteers, Isaac
Gujarati language playlist created by one of our volunteers, Uma
The full-length interviews will be available at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre in due course. You can read the full descriptions online at the British Library’s Sound and Moving Image catalogue. The British Library collection reference is UAP015. The local reference is TOHP/.