Worcester Life Stories
The hustle and bustle of one of Worcester’s oldest shopping streets has been vividly recalled in a project to record the memories of people living in the city.
Worcester Life Stories offers local people access to a rich archive of 35,000 historic photos and maps and enables them to create their own digital life stories for personal or shared reminiscence.
The latest project heard reminisces of shopping in the Shambles during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. These inspired an artwork for display next to St. Swithun’s Church, where a giant banner was hung that included historic photographs of the area. It was commissioned by Worcester City Council and the Churches Conservation Trust.
With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and match-funding by partner organisations, the impact of Worcester Life Stories on mental health and wellbeing will be explored by The University of Worcester Association of Dementia Studies.
Sheena Payne-Lunn, Worcester City Council’s Historic Environment Record Officer, has been using archive photography as part of a series of online quizzes this year, with as many as 3,000 people regularly taking part.
‘It’s been fantastic to see so many people re-connecting with one another and taking pleasure from their shared memories,’ says Sheena. ‘It’s really helped a lot of people to combat feelings of loneliness and isolation over the last few months.’
The Worcester Life Stories team are now gathering memories from local people to feed in to a 2021 calendar, which will feature 12 high quality historic images alongside their quotes.
The project has its own Youtube Channel,
to find out more visit
www.worcesterlifestories.org.uk