Sharing Heritage
The project also aimed to create a shared space of enjoyment and celebration for participants to express their personalities and share life experiences. Six reminiscence workshops were held where participants explored and reflected on memories evoked by different clothes and fashion. These sessions were recorded and the content was used in local exhibitions. The project was a partnership with The Tizard Centre - University of Kent, which produced a report based on these workshops.
The grantee acknowledged the usefulness of reminiscence work in understanding and exploring identities of people with learning disabilities. All workshop participants reported that they had found the experience very positive, with one participant inspired to write a book of her life memories. The project has shown how heritage and oral history can be used to explore and understand non mainstream and under-represented groups of the population.