Led by Mencap Cymru and thanks to National Lottery Players, people with learning disabilities will be involved in the interpretation of their own history and design of public exhibitions.

By doing so, many people will be representing themselves for the first time, where historically a family member, friend or medical professional would have undertaken this role for them. 

“People with a learning disability and their families make up 5% of the population in Wales and their experiences need to be heard.”

Wayne Crocker, Director of Mencap Cymru

The Our Social Networks project builds on the success of a previous National Lottery funded project, Hidden Now Heard, by telling the stories of sixty individuals with a learning disability. These will be shared via an online museum, interactive pop up exhibitions in places such as Cardiff International Airport and the Deiniol Centre in Bangor as well as a mobile app.

Cllr Sara Pickard, Project Officer on previous similar projects explains why this project is important to her as someone with Down’s syndrome: “I found working on the Hidden Now Heard project very interesting as it was the first time I had any experience of an oral history project.

"Being able to interview an older generation of people with a learning disability about their past was an eye-opening experience. While some things have changed for the better I could see that in many ways the experiences of people with learning disabilities, like me are still the same.”