Living the dream: Life in Littlemoor

With the help of Hamlett Films Big Local residents have been telling their stories. Matthew Harrison spoke to us about his film Living the dream: Life in Littlemoor, on why the issues portrayed in it are so important to him and his local community.

I have lived in Littlemoor most of my life. It’s a beautiful part of the world, near the sea and surrounded by countryside and many who pass through or stay here see that.

Growing up, there was far less housing, so it felt more open and there was always stuff going on – local youth clubs and other activities.

In my eyes it was fantastic, however, not everyone saw it that way.

Growing from just a collection of farms that it had been in the 1940s – despite it being home to an Australian army base during the Frist and Second World wars – the 1950s and 60s saw massive changes, with large amounts of social housing being built in the area.

This is why I think the film is important and why I wanted to make it; to highlight some of the great things that are going on in Littlemoor and what a fantastic community we have here.

A kind of stigma around the area grew – a sense that if you were undesirable you were sent to Littlemoor. This was very much the feeling when I grew up, as an older teenager I always worried about saying where I lived for fear of being judged.

Recently, there has been a lot of pressure put on the area due to COVID, with more and more people having to rely on food banks and this plus the stigma and other perceived social issues have left many with a sense of isolation and inferiority. Parents are worried about their kids’ education and prospects.

Despite all of this, we are still managing to do some great things, from weekly football sessions to orienteering courses for the kids.

This is why I think the film is important and why I wanted to make it; to highlight some of the great things that are going on in Littlemoor and what a fantastic community we have here.

We want people to fly.

We want our community to feel, especially the children as they’re growing up, that they’re capable of going on to bigger and better things. If you make people feel unwelcome and stigmatised, they generally stay in the area where they feel comfortable.

We want people to fly.

We want young people to feel like they can grow up and do anything. I never thought that I would go to university and get myself a degree and we want kids in the area to feel empowered and believe that they can achieve the same.

We are starting to look at our future generations to make sure there are things that they can do so that they can feel involved.

The purpose of the film was to make sure people are aware that there are things going on and we are looking out for our future generations – that’s what we hoped to achieve.