Documentary
A feature-length film tracing five decades of community history through new and archive interviews.
A Candy Arts CIC Documentary · Heritage Project
How the Centre Was Won
A documentary about the African Caribbean Centre, Leicester — the people who built it, fought for it, and kept it alive.
Watch the Full Documentary
27:34
2026
How the Centre Was Won — Official Documentary
A first look at How the Centre Was Won — the documentary tracing the founding and survival of Leicester’s African Caribbean Centre.
Read transcript
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A story that has never been fully told on screen
How the Centre Was Won traces the founding and survival of the African Caribbean Centre in Leicester — a story of community determination, cultural resilience, and collective memory.
The documentary draws on previously unseen archive footage, photography, and oral history recordings. It is a film about a building, but more than that, it is a film about what a community can do when it refuses to be forgotten.
Heritage Archive
Previously unseen photographs, film footage and oral history recordings from the Centre and its community.
Community Memory
Interviews with founding members, regular attendees, staff and the families who shaped the Centre across generations.
From the Archive
Photographs and stills from the African Caribbean Centre and the community it has served since the 1970s.
Images: Candy Arts CIC / African Caribbean Centre archive
About the Film
In the early 1980s, a group of young Black men in Leicester stood up for something their community needed, a safe space, a cultural home, and a centre that belonged to the people.
How the Centre Was Won documents the story of Leicester’s African Caribbean Centre, from its roots in resistance and community organising, to its role as a place of music, food, celebration, politics, youth work and belonging.
Led by Candy Arts CIC and supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the documentary brings together personal memories, oral histories, archive material and the voices of a new generation. It is a story about more than one building. It is about legacy, identity, and the power of a community to hold on to its own history.
Project Podcast Reflections
As part of How the Centre Was Won, young people helped shape a series of podcast reflections on themes that emerged from the oral history interviews and project discussions.
The podcasts explored issues including relationships with parents and older generations, the political climate, social inequality, and the tendency to place blame on people at the lowest end of society. These themes connect to the wider story of the African Caribbean Centre, which is about community, pressure, inequality, identity, and how people respond when they feel pushed aside.
The podcasts do not repeat the documentary topic by topic. Instead, they give young people space to connect the heritage themes to issues they recognise today.
The podcasts explored issues including relationships with parents and older generations, the political climate, social inequality, and the tendency to place blame on people at the lowest end of society. These themes connect to the wider story of the African Caribbean Centre, which is about community, pressure, inequality, identity, and how people respond when they feel pushed aside.
The podcasts do not repeat the documentary topic by topic. Instead, they give young people space to connect the heritage themes to issues they recognise today.
In Their Own Words
The Centre wasn't just a building. It was ours.
I remember the first time I walked through those doors. It felt like coming home.
We fought for every brick. The community never gave up.
It's where I learned who I was and where I came from.
Get Involved
Your memories, your story – help us tell it.
Share Your Story
Were you there? Did you attend, work at, or campaign for the Centre? We want to hear your memories.
Record Your MemoryShare Archive Material
Do you have photographs, film, letters or documents connected to the Centre? Help us build the archive.
Get in TouchSpread the Word
Know someone with a connection to the Centre? Share this project with them.
Share this ProjectSupported by
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
How the Centre Was Won is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are preserving and sharing the story of Leicester's African Caribbean Centre for future generations. We are grateful to all the funders, partners and supporters who make this work possible.
