Heritage Lottery award for local history project

The past will come to life for communities on the doorstep of a new state-of-the-art historical resource centre - after it won Lottery funding for a local history project.

The Keep, a £19 million development by the University of Sussex, East Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council, will open its doors at Woollards Field in Moulsecoomb later this year.

East Sussex Record Office (ESRO), which is moving to The Keep, has been granted £43,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for an 18-month project entitled ‘History On Your Doorstep’.

Volunteers of all ages from Moulsecoomb and nearby neighbourhoods will be recruited to collect, record and celebrate the area’s rich history.

The programme has been developed by ESRO, the University of Sussex Special Collections and Royal Pavilion and Museums in consultation with local community groups and residents.

It will offer an opportunity for local people to be trained in reminiscence, oral history interviewing, archive research, object handling, map reading and other skills.

Kirsty Pattrick, Project Officer in the Mass Observation Archive, one of the University’s Special Collections, is on the steering group for the ‘History On Your Doorstep’ project.

She said: “In August 2012 we invited local residents to an event at the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy in Falmer. They enthusiastically took part in a Mass Observation-inspired activity about the home. All those who attended pinned the location of their home onto a large wall map and told us what they liked most about their home and where they live.

“Our collections and resources will continue to inspire the local residents to engage with the project once it is up and running. They will be able to carry out research in our archives and have the opportunity to handle historical documents, such as the Mass Observation diaries, when exploring the World War II period.”

Isilda Almeida-Harvey, ESRO outreach and learning officer, said she hoped the scheme would highlight the accessibility of The Keep to all sectors of the community and help to foster a sense of pride in the area.

She added: “This funding is very important to help us change how local residents may perceive archives. We want collections at The Keep to be representative of local communities and to be used and enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities.

“The idea behind the project is to get the local community involved with The Keep and its collections, to empower people to develop the skills they need to use the resource and really benefit from it.”

Posted on behalf of: Special Collections
Last updated: Thursday, 16 May 2013