An Introduction
By Nicola Benge
Hidden treasures
Photo from WRVS Heritage Plus archive
Writing it all down
Photo from WRVS Heritage Plus archive
George and Pearl
Photo from WRVS Heritage Plus archive
Heritage Plus Reminiscence Project Eastbourne
Introduction to the booklet
The Heritage Plus project is a Sussex-wide venture, lasting over three years, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project is running in seven different areas in the county with the aim of improving local history memories, and to encourage participants and volunteers to archive their lives and their memorabilia.
This booklet is the result of ten weeks of reminiscence sessions with a group of people over 55 who attend the WRVS Eastbourne day centre and who wanted to share their histories with others. Many of the participants, mostly ladies, and one gentleman who attended, are involved in the WRVS and helping with the day centre. Some participated on the WRVS pilot heritage project in 2006.
During our time together we looked at lots of different subjects including family, home, schooldays, Eastbourne life, games and food. Participants were encouraged to bring photos, newspapers and toys in to show. We also used reminiscence boxes to facilitate the act of remembering.
We looked at picture postcards, sang songs, played games, and even dusted the skipping rope off to give it a whirl and see what songs we could remember. We remembered how we got into trouble for talking whilst eating, and staying out too late.
We told funny stories about falling down the privy and exchanged memories we thought we had long forgotten about. It made the participants feel a sense of community and connection with the best, and was educational for the younger volunteers and reminiscence workers who didn't know about lots of the stories we touched on. The memories are compiled from the results of each workshop and have been checked by each participant.
The full, rich lives we have included here are just touching on the histories of those who came regularly to the sessions, and it's been hard to know what to leave out, as well as what to put in. Many of the participants are Eastbourne natives, or people who have spent many years here for one reason or another, and have an abiding affection for the town, even during its darkest days in the war, when it suffered a hammering by the Axis forces. This will hopefully be a resource that will enable others to remember more of Eastbourne's history, and teach others about the heritage of the town and the wonderful, warm people in it.
Nicola Benge
Spring 2007