I am delighted to be managing this Arts Council England funded intergenerational project for Carisbrooke Castle Museum from March 2025-March 2026. This project will enable us to explore, record and share memories of the Isle of Wight in 1945 in connected with the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

The project has 4 strands:

• Community reminiscence sessions in different locations around the Island using the collections of Carisbrooke Castle Museum and the Isle of Wight Council Heritage Service.

• Intergenerational work with two schools - Brading Primary and the Island Free School, introducing pupils to this period in history using museum collections and working with them to teach them the skills they need to host a reminiscence session and conduct an oral history interview.

• 16 recorded oral history interviews with people who have memories of the Isle of Wight in 1945 which will be archived in the Island Voices collection at the Museum.

• An audio visual exhibition which will travel the Island and contain content created by the project.
  
  

For more information :
https://carisbrookecastlemuseum.org.uk/ve-day-project/

I am really pleased to have been commissioned in January 2025 by Creative Island to manage Connecting Libraries, a project in partnership with the Isle of Wight Council Library Service, supported by funding from Arts Council England.

The Isle of Wight Library Service plays a vital role in its community of 140,000+ residents, with its six council-run libraries offering a diverse range of physical & digital books & hosting over 2,800 activities annually for adults & children. 

The Connecting Libraries project seeks to build on this strong foundation, exploring opportunities to foster deeper connections between libraries & the Island’s cultural infrastructure, attracting new audiences, increasing membership, & sparking cultural curiosity across all generations.

In addition to the Isle of Wight Council libraries in Newport, Cowes, Ryde, Sandown, Ventnor, and Freshwater, the project will also offer support and seek to collaborate with the volunteer-led community libraries in Bembridge, Brighstone, East Cowes, Niton, and Shanklin.

For more information:

https://creativeisland.org/creative-island-leads-the-way.../