Island Railway Voices
We’ve recently been awarded a £15,000 grant from Arts Council England, to help record the oral histories of people associated with the Island’s Railways. These could be passengers who use the train to get to school, railway staff who worked through the transition from steam to electric, or early volunteers who helped establish the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
Lisa Kerley will be working with us to coordinate the project. Lisa is a museum freelancer who has worked with Isle of Wight museums and heritage organisations on a number of community outreach and oral history projects over the last 10 years.
Reminiscence Session: As part of our project we will be hosting reminiscence sessions with older people in the community, including residents at Northbrooke House residential home in Havenstreet. This will be a wonderful opportunity for residents to share their memories through engagement with museum objects.
Oral History Interviews: In addition we will also be conducting more formal oral history interviews with people who would like to record their memories for the project and have them archived in the museum. Lisa will also be recruiting volunteers to help conduct oral history interviews and will provide training around interviewing skills.
If you would like find out more about this project, please contact Lisa to express your interest: Lisa.kerley@icloud.com
