“Lancashire Not Forgotten” is a project involving library, museum and archives services from Blackpool Council, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Lancashire County Council.
In each authority, a programme of light touch social events will be held at heritage sites using heritage collections to capture and preserve the memories of those living with dementia, remembering how they lived, worked and played decades ago.
Activities, archives and artefacts will stimulate discussion and tease out facts and impressions. Life stories will be conserved in a shared digital archive and each area will produce a bespoke legacy linked to their events programme.
Blackpool will create a tableau to evoke the fun of the illuminations and local gala days, Blackburn with Darwen will create dementia friendly, town centre heritage trails connecting iconic civic buildings relevant to all residents, and Lancashire will produce tapestries to illustrate memories of employment in the cotton mills.
Art will underpin heritage as creative experiences, augmented with historical data (audio-visual, digital and hard copy), unlock the past and stimulate engagement.
The project’s participants are the primary resource as the tales that they tell and the experiences they share are ultimately captured, digitized and disseminated via council websites.
Cllr Gillian Campbell, Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “Lancashire Not Forgotten will give a voice to those living with dementia as they gift their personal stories to future generations.
“Their recollections will come together in a unique archive of what it meant to live, work and enjoy leisure time in twentieth century Lancashire.
“This is such good news. We are grateful to Heritage Lottery Fund for supporting this initiative and we look forward to working with colleagues in neighbouring authorities.”
