The Brading Community Archive Group has received £45,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting 2-year project entitled ‘Unlocking Our Vaults’, which will collect and make available on a community archive website the rich legacy of heritage held by Brading’s local community.
Stored in various local archives are approximately 5,000 documents and 400 images, currently difficult to access and largely unknown to the present residents of the town and beyond. It’s know that residents of all ages have a great interest in the town’s heritage so it is the aim of the group is to digitise documents and photographs from this huge archive and upload it to the new Community Archive website.
The grant presents a great opportunity for all ages, especially young people, to learn about their history and heritage. It is also an opportunity for participants to gain important and transferable new skills in the process of research and the manipulation of digital information.
The 2-year project will be launched at a Brading Heritage Exhibition to be held at Brading Youth Club on Saturday 14th July rom 14:00-16:00, including a heritage exhibition, a slide illustrated talk at 15:00 and the launch of the new Brading Heritage book which the group have compiled with funding from the HLF funded Down to the Coast.
The book uses the Oral histories and memories of the older generation of Brading Residents recorded by the late Molly Pewsey to illustrate the people, places, shops buildings and streets of Brading as they were in the past. Never before published photographs are included alongside modern equivalents to show much the lives of the Brading residents have changed. The book is a must for anyone who has ever lived in or had family living in Brading. Authors will be on hand to sign copies of the book at the launch event and the book will be on sale at The Brading Centre and other outlets.
Andrew Culley, Chair of Brading Community Archive Group has said:
“We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
“To tackle the huge, fragile and scattered archive was always daunting, now we have a way forward to enable the community to create for itself a modern and living archive.”
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The Unlocking Our Vaults project is looking for local volunteers – anyone wanting to be involved should contact Dr Ruth Waller, the Project Coordinator, by emailing [email protected].
