PR, Content and Communications Strategy for organisations that want to make an impact
PR, Content and Communications Strategy for organisations that want to make an impact
Steel City Survivors
Steel City Survivors
Stories of resilience. For Sheffield. For Roundabout.
‘Steel City Survivors’ is a major new Sheffield charity initiative built around a programme of in-depth interviews with figures who have shaped the city’s cultural, business and creative landscape.
Over the coming months, Neil Anderson will personally interview key figures from a generation who were regularly written off at an early age, faced repeated setbacks, and refused to leave the city that formed them. They stayed. They built. They contributed and they inspired.
The project is privately funded by Sheffield businessman David Slater, whose own journey reflects many of the themes explored throughout the programme.
All profits from publication will support Roundabout and its work with young people at risk of homelessness.
Publication: Autumn 2026.
What This Project Is
‘Steel City Survivors’ is not a nostalgia project.
It is an exploration of resilience, loyalty and long-term impact in a city that has repeatedly reinvented itself.
Each conversation examines defining decisions, turning points and moments of doubt that shaped lives and careers — often outside orthodox career paths, and often against expectation.
Largely coming of age during the turbulent 1980s and early 1990s, this generation chose to build their futures in Sheffield rather than leave it. Their stories will now help fund opportunity for the next generation.
Project leadership
‘Steel City Survivors’ is being led by Neil Anderson in collaboration with project patron David Slater, who has played a central role in shaping and supporting the initiative.
Together, they are overseeing the programme of in-depth interviews that will form the foundation of the book, bringing storytelling, civic identity and charitable impact into a single project with long-term benefit for the city.
Charity partnership
The message of resilience at the heart of ‘Steel City Survivors’ aligns closely with the work of Roundabout, which supports young people at risk of homelessness in Sheffield.
By directing all proceeds to the charity, the project ensures that stories of endurance and long-term commitment will directly support belief and opportunity for the next generation.