Velmore History Book due in Spring 2014

The Velmore History Project is progressing well. A book exploring the story of the estate from the 1950s to the  present day will launch in Spring 2014. It will feature previously unpublished photos of children playing around the Nissan huts of the Velmore Camp, which were used to house local  families after the war. Featuring the recollections of the first generation of Velmore families, the first history book to be written about the Velmore area will put this much ignored housing estate firmly on the local heritage map, celebrating the vibrant community it has grown into.

(Image shows the opening of the Velmore Chapel in the 1960s).

Velmore Local History Project 

Volunteer Oral History Interviewers required

Do you enjoy talking to people about the past and hearing their memories of times gone by? Are you interested in the history of the the Eastleigh / Chandler’s Ford area, in particular, the Velmore estate.

If so, we would like to invite you to join the Velmore Local History Project and help us record the stories of residents, past and past, for inclusion in a book about how the area has developed over the decades from a hutted camp in WWII to the thriving residential community it is today.

We are looking for a team of three volunteers to form an Oral History Interviewing and Research team, donating a few hours of time a month to project activities, from September to December 2013.

Volunteers will attend two free 2 ½  hour Oral History Interview Skills training sessions run by Now Heritage CIC. There will also be the opportunity to attend Archive Research sessions at Hampshire Record Office and Eastleigh Museum.

If you are interested in this opportunity you must be available for training on Wednesday 18 September from 12:30-3:00pm and Tuesday 24 September 1:00-3:30pm. All other time commitments will be flexible.

For further information or to register your interest, please call Emma Golby-Kirk on 07931 736739 or email emma@nowheritage.org. 

NB) The Velmore Local History Project is commissioned by First Wessex Housing Group and delivered by Now Heritage Community Interest Company.

Between Wind and Water - Glorious weather, glorious rehearsal venue, glorious play

Ten days of rehearsing at the wonderful waterside venue of Abbey Hall in Netley are drawing to a close and we are happy to say that our new play Between Wind and Water  is almost ready to launch on it's shoreline tour along Southampton Water.

The play, written by Southampton based Deborah Gearing, explores in sixty minutes all the longing, the yearning, the ambition and heartbreak of lives lived beside the spell of the sea and the wide world that's out there for the taking.

Between Wind and Water opens at Vellan Court Sheltered Housing Scheme in Millbrook on Wednesday 24 July and it also plays at Weston Court, Kingsclere Ave, Weston on Friday 1 August at 1:30pm. Activity Coordinator, Bev Weir, is keen to invite local people into the housing scheme to watch the show alongside sheltered residents. To reserve tickets for these shows, telephone 023 8091 5154.

The play will also be at Tudor House Museum on Thursday 25 July at 2:30pm and tickets - which can be booked by telephoning 023 8083 4563 - include entry to the museum and gardens.

The run finishes by the water's edge with an 8:00pm performance on Friday 1 August at Abbey Hall, Netley.

Tickets for the Abbey Hall performance can be booked via Eventbrite: www.betweenwindandwater.eventbrite.co.uk

'My Ship of Dreams' Theatre Project Launches

We are delighted to announce that we have received Arts Council funding to produce a one hour piece of theatre celebrating and exploring Southampton people's connections with the sea.

The project will explore the unique histories of shoreline communities along Southampton Water, from the Docks at Millbrook to Thornycrofts at Woolston, and special attention will be paid to those who jumped about the luxury liners in search of fortune and adventure.

Writer Deborah Gearing is keen to weave real voices and stories into her fictional tale, and has been busy exploring the collections of Oral Histories in the City Archives including 'Woolston Before the Bridge' and the 2005 'Vosper Thornycroft' project.

Added to this, we are gathering stories from residents in sheltered housing schemes along the shoreline and we will be running drama workshops in youth clubs to help us with our research.

The show will tour shoreline venues in the summer, playing at:

• Vellan Court, Millbrook - 24 July, 1:30pm
• Tudor House Museum - 25 July, 2:30pm
• Weston Court, Weston Shore - 2 August, 1:30pm
• Abbey Hall, Netley - 2 August, 8:00pm

3 acting placements and 2 stage management placements will be offered to young people aged 16-19 to work alongside professional actors and crew.

9 young people will take part in a Print Design course at Red Hot Press to help us create the online publicity campaign.

For more information on any aspect of this project please email emma@nowheritage.org

The Queen Mary

'Story of The Croft' Website Launch

The Story of The Croft website launched today at a 'bijou' social gathering at Clarendon College in Nottingham.

The website features first hand accounts of life as a single mum during the 1960s and 1970s as told by women who lived at The Croft, a pioneering shared housing scheme set up by the grassroots Nottingham based charity Family First.

Please have a look and a listen and feel free to share your comments about any aspect of single mothers' experiences on the website's comments page: www.storiesofthecroft.org.uk

1960s Exhibition Prompts Mothers' Reunion

A new exhibition in the People's Gallery at Nottingham Castle will reunite a group of mums with the woman who offered them a lifeline over forty years ago.The Story of The Croft exhibition, funded by the Heritage Lottery, showcases the stories of women who lived in a pioneering Nottingham housing scheme for 'unsupported' mothers, which was set up in 1966 by working journalist and mother-of-three Ruth Johns.

Now Heritage founders Emma Golby-Kirk and her mother Barbara Reed, who lived at The Croft in 1972, have made it their mission to find other women who lived at The Croft with their babies and, with the help of half a dozen dedicated volunteers, they have recorded their recollections.

No two women's stories are the same, but one common theme that has emerged from all the interviews is the positive impact that living at The Croft made in their lives.

Ruth Johns, now in her late seventies, is aiming to attend the exhibition launch event at mid-day on Friday 16 November. A dozen or so former 'Croft mums' are eagerly awaiting the chance to thank her in person for the 'safe haven' she offered them at a time of great need, giving them a chance to build a positive future for themselves and their - now grown - babies.

A Volunteer's Story By Anna Rogala

As a Mapperley resident with a passion for volunteering, I was intrigued to hear about the Children of The Croft Oral History Project, run by Now Heritage C.I.C.

A fellow student on my Creative Writing MA who is also a member of the Oral History society, saw an appeal for volunteers and thought the project would be right up my street. It literally was – I live a stones throw from The Croft, Alexandra Park, which in the 1960s and 70s was a pioneering housing scheme for mothers and their babies. At a time when young single mums had little choice but to give their newborns up for adoption, the Home Office described the housing charity, run by Family First, as “a revolutionary idea.”      

In March 2012, I joined a dozen-strong project team for a three-day training session, with Now Heritage’s Creative Director Emma Golby-Kirk and her mum, Business Director Barbara Reed.  In 1972, Barbara gave birth to Emma shortly after moving into The Croft. 40 years later, Emma began the ambitious venture of tracing former Croft mums to record and collate their oral histories. That’s where the volunteers’ different strengths came into play – a variety of knowledge and experience across a range of subjects including history, archiving, and photography enabled us to tackle the project with confidence. 

Given my background in journalism, I have focused mainly on conducting oral history interviews. It has been fascinating to hear the diverse stories of numerous former residents, and heartwarming to discover what a positive impact The Croft had at a critical time in women’s lives, offering a secure foundation for them to get back on their feet and provide the best future possible for their babies. Many women reflected that only with hindsight did they recognise that an experience which seemed “normal” back then was in fact exceptional, given the heartache of other young single pregnant mums at that time in history. One particularly memorable interview was with Ruth Johns, founder of The Croft and subsequent director of Family First. I was greatly inspired by her vision and commitment to the scheme, which changed the lives of hundreds of young mums and their babies.

Attitudes to young parenthood have changed dramatically since the 1960s. Although The Croft is a distant memory for many, it is hoped that this project will not only preserve those memories, but help stimulate debate among today's young people about our society's current culture and the experiences of young parents across several generations.

All the project’s recordings and transcripts will be stored in the Local Studies Library and the Nottinghamshire Archives, with an exhibition staged at Nottingham Castle Museum from November to January. A launch event will take place at the Castle on Friday 16 November 2012.