The ever-popular 100 Homes Project was recognised at Birmingham University this week by winning two national awards with the Community Archive Heritage Group.
The 100 Homes Project started in 2014 on the 100th anniversary of the three towns of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse merging into one city. The project captures the history of Stonehouse in the words of the people who live there – so that their stories and memories will be preserved.
“We can’t wait to see what new stories are round the corner!”
The Project walked away with the Best Community Engagement Award and Winner of the Best Group at this year’s 12th annual conference. Presenting the awards to Peter Davey, Project Coordinator and Donna Maugham, Assistant Project Coordinator was Nicholas David Barratt alongside the CEO of the Nations Memory Bank.
The Archives and Records Association, and Community Archives and Heritage Group co-hosted the awards with Birmingham University and this year’s event was themed Conflict, Protest and Reconciliation.
Pete was delighted:
“This is fantastic news for us as this is national recognition for our local project. This has gone from strength to strength as this small project grew as people became more involved – Once we started with this project the stories just kept on coming. People have told us about wartime bombings, Mormons arriving in Millbay and being besieged by prostitutes and Union Street mayhem. We also got to know the quieter, everyday lives of families and residents – shops that have come and gone, the experience of growing up in Nazareth House – stories of love, friendship and lives being lived.”
Hayley Kemp, Communities Worker for PCH said:
“We have been supporting and working on the project right from the start supporting this project; we want our residents to be involved as we know they have some fantastic tales to tell. This is the sort of project that brings communities together both past and present, we have heard some amazing tales and we just keep discovering new ones. We can’t wait to see what new stories are round the corner!”
Plymouth based 100 Homes Oral History Project have been announced as the Best Community Archive and Heritage Group of 2018.
Winners of the Community Archives and Heritage Group (CAHG) awards were announced at the group’s annual conference in Birmingham.
The 100 Homes Oral History Project also won the Community Engagement Award. The project began with Stonehouse Timebank and Stonehouse Action with the aim of talking about and recording the memories of people who live, or had lived, in the Stonehouse area. Initially the project commemorated the merger of the distinct areas of Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport into the City of Plymouth in 1914. Between Stonehouse and the rest of the city is Union Street – an area that is:
“full of closed up and boarded up shops and a bad reputation for crime and prostitution in a place that was once full of nightlife and work coming from the Docks.”
From gathering oral history the project now:
“involves a broader audience. Allowing for hundreds of people to take part in the project and come to workshops, shows, and talks for all ages and backgrounds and give interviews on life in Stonehouse”
The judging panel said
“They have a fully rounded project with a real understanding of their target audiences. They engage with various groups of different ages, cultures and ethnicity across their community.”
The group met the criteria for the Community Engagement award stimulating and interesting the community and involving a wide range of people and widening general interest in the area and the process of gathering information.
When presenting the award for overall winner the judging panel said
“100 Homes stood out for the sheer range of activities; the range of people they have involved and the appreciation that some want to give stories and others listen. This group, and in fact all this year’s winners, are showcase projects that others can follow”.
