LOCAL HISTORY HUB ROTHERHAM

Local History Hub Rotherham brings together schools, heritage organisations, and community partners to support high-quality, place-based history across the borough. The hub supports communities across Rotherham and the surrounding areas, helping children and young people explore the people, places, and stories that have shaped their local area.
The hub operates as a local working party, meeting regularly to strengthen and support local history provision through collaboration. By bringing together educators and heritage professionals, it creates a space to share expertise, develop practical approaches, and respond to the needs of real classrooms.
Through curriculum support, partnership working, and local storytelling, the hub makes it easier for schools and communities to work together and ensure local history is meaningful and accessible for all learners.
From classroom enquiries to work with museum collections and local archives, the hub supports schools to uncover local stories and bring history to life in ways that are relevant, engaging, and rooted in place.

Our Team

Ian Blakesley is the Learning Officer at Rotherham Museum.
He has over 25 years’ experience in education, having worked in primary schools and later in special educational needs settings, finishing his teaching career as an assistant headteacher for the secondary department.
Following his move into the heritage sector, Ian worked delivering museum school sessions and spent five years working at a prehistoric cave site, before taking up his current role.
He is passionate about uncovering local stories and people, and is keen to work with local schools to bring these to life. Through his role at Rotherham Museum, he supports access to the museum’s local studies archive, helping pupils connect with the history of their area in meaningful ways.