Don’t worry, this isn’t an ill-advised cover of a 1990 Kylie classic, but a look back at a great event that took place in Worcester Guildhall on 26th June. After an online launch in April of two new digital platforms, ‘Know Your Place Worcester’ and ‘Life Stories Herefordshire and Worcestershire’, a public launch was held in person. The delay to the lifting of Covid restrictions meant that the event was limited to 30 people inside the Guildhall at any time, but thanks to everyone’s efforts over 200 members of the public were able to be part of the event throughout the day.
The event had a series of images representing Worcester High Street in the 1950’s and brought together a number of local groups and organisations as well as offering people the opportunity to see the two new platforms ‘in action’. We at the Association for Dementia Studies were one of the organisations with a stand at the event, raising awareness of our involvement with the evaluation aspect of the work – more on that later – but other organisations included:
- Onside @OnsideAdvocacy / Plus (People Like Us) Worcestershire @PlusWorcs
- Platform Housing @PlatformHousing
- Talk to Me Worcester @MeWorcs
- Tudor House Museum @TudorHouseWorcs
- University of Worcester School of Sport and Exercise Science
- VerseOne @VerseOneComms
- Worcester City Football Club @WorcesterCityFc
- Worcester Tourist Information Centre
- Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service @ExploreThePast
- Worcestershire County Cricket Club @WorcsCCC
Vintage singer Cathy Morris provided the entertainment, and there was also a vintage sweet stall where you could get a bag of sweets in return for sharing a memory of Worcester on your ‘golden ticket’.
“There was lots of lovely positive feedback on the day, with people excited to make use of the two platforms. There was a great buzz around the stalls and the recreated 1950s High Street exhibition. … We were able to chat to visitors as they were queuing to get in and share further information. Project volunteers were showcasing the two platforms via tablets throughout the day and we also had demonstrations scrolling on large screens too. We handed out lots of our platform keyrings, featuring QR code links directly in to the two websites. It was lovely to welcome Ron Baldwin, whose photos and memories have featured on the project banners on the day, and our oldest visitor was Biddy Furlong, aged 103, who shared her story of singing for the Prince of Wales in 1932 when he came to Worcester!”
Sheena Payne-Lunn, Historic Environment Record Officer
“It was a brilliant event and it was so wonderful to have Ron, the face of the Worcester Life Stories project in attendance.”
Dr Natasha Lord, Lead Clinical Psychologist
The Association for Dementia Studies is evaluating the impact of the two platforms and finding out how people are using them, so Dr Shirley Evans represented us at the event to promote two online surveys we’re running to capture people’s feedback. We want to hear from people who have used either platform, so if you fit the bill please have a look using the links below:
At the start of the survey you’ll see some more information about the project just so you know what we’re planning to do, and the questions basically want to find out a bit about how you’ve used the platform(s) and how that fits with your general use of the internet. All responses are anonymous so if you do take part, thank you in advance!
A huge congratulations to Sheena Payne-Lunn, Historic Environment Record Officer, Worcester City Council (@worcityheritage) and Dr Natasha Lord, Lead Clinical Psychologist, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust (@WorLifeStories) for organising a great event.
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Association for Dementia Studies Blog 
2 thoughts on “Step back in time”