A PROJECT telling the story of the role of the community living near Valley Parade during the Bradford City fire disaster is appealing for residents to come forward.

Bradford City Community Foundation’s Unheard Voices project is producing a book and 15-minute film on the residents’ experiences on that fateful day.

A total of 56 fans died in the fire on May 11, 1985, in a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City, with around 265 more injured.

The project, which began in February this year, is now looking to hear from residents who helped with the rescue effort on the day.

It has already interviewed 60 people including retired police officers who were on duty at the fire, who said they went around the streets to find survivors. Many of the residents, who were mostly Bangladeshi, took people into their homes, brought out blankets and drinks and let them use their home telephones. The residents also helped take victims to hospital.

The book and film will be released in March next year with an event at the National Media Museum, followed by a photographic exhibition at the same venue from May.

Paula Helliwell, Unheard Voices project manager, said they wanted to hear from more residents who helped with the rescue effort outside Valley Parade, with the intention of recounting unheard stories from the time. She said: “Over the years, the story of the Bradford City fire has been told many times - the story of the supporters and the players, but one story that had never been told was the story of how the local people had helped.

“The community, principally Bangladeshi, had no links then to the football club and many could not speak English, but they still helped. Men, women and children all helped. They were even quite afraid of the football fans before the fire.

“We are trying to find people who came out of the ground and were helped by people in the community. For the book, we are looking to hear from people who were there but were children at the time, but could tell us their story.”

The foundation is funding the project through a £40,100 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Bradford City Community Foundation is the community charity of Bradford City Football Club. It provides football coaching and education to young people, works with youngsters aged between 16 and 18 on the National Citizen Service and has done several projects in the local community.

Ian Ormondroyd, Bradford City Community Foundation manager and former Bantams striker, echoed the call for residents to come forward and contribute to the project. He said: “We just want to try to reach out to the local community around the ground and see if anybody out there that remembers the day can come forward and talk about it.”

To take part in the project, email paula.helliwell@gmail.com by December 16.