What's New

Much activity since my last post - here's what I've been doing:

Libraries and Mental Health - a Conference held in Rotherham in October 2005 for which I wrote and published the Conference report. The day was set up to share good practice already going on in Libraries - such as the wonderful Books on Prescription scheme. This helps people languishing on the long waiting list for NHS therapeutic help by providing them with a `prescription' for a set of peer reviewed, `quality assured' self help books, obtainable through their local library. Gratifying to hear librarians described as being ideal for this project because they're `like pharmacists - discreet, helpful and professional'!
The report was commissioned by Rotherham Primary Care Trust.

More Banners! - surveying visitors in the galleries of the People's History Museum about new banner displays, interpretation and terrific family friendly banner events.The excellent new banner exhibition Carrying the Colours runs from February until the autumn and showcases both the project and the collection.
www.peopleshistorymuseum.org.uk


Harewood Explored - this is just starting as I write. A terrific new HLF funded Audience Development project for Harewood House Trust, North Yorkshire, linking this most unusual and accessible of `stately homes' with new audiences of all kinds. Watch this space or see Harewood's own website for more info.
www.harewood.org.uk

The Great Escape! - a project to survey uncatalogued archives in the Yorkshire region and develop a strategic vision for their use.
Client: MLA Yorkshire
www.mlayorkshire.org.uk


Contact me for details of these and all other projects.

Lots of good stuff keeping me busy at present....

Travellers

I've been working on a Resource Bank of info and Case Studies for Yorkshire MLAC for people in the sector wanting to work with their Traveller communities. I've been giving an introduction to the different cultural groups which make up this `last minority',(including how not to offend people unwittingly when visiting a Traveller site) digging out some excellent practice and finding loads of links.

Manchester Civilian War Memorial - the beautiful Tree of Remembrance is now standing tall and proud and shiny in steel and copper in Piccadilly Gardens. Artists Wolfgang and Heron met with a range of local people who were our advisors for the whole process, in the consultations I organised.The Tree was inaugurated on May 8th (VE Day) The follow up is a memorial Book recording the names and details of victims, which I will finish in July.

Whose heritage is it anyway? A good question.....which sparked off a whole Conference in Castleford in March. Collectively put together by Yorkshire MLAC, English Heritage, Council for British Archaeology, the Countryside Agency and the Local Heritage Initiative, this was a riveting two days of heated debate and very hands on workshops,attracting over 100 heritage professionals and community local history `activists'. Lots of practical creativity and passionate argument for Local Distinctiveness and involving local people...

I'm trying to bottle the atmosphere and pass on the practical techniques of this inspiring event in a publication which we hope will be Much More Than Just A Conference Report ....and well on the way to being a Toolkit for developing Community History and local heritage management.



Contact me for details of all these and other projects.

Developing audiences for archives

My latest intriguing project has been working with North West Museums Libraries and Archives Council to develop audiences for archives in the region.
The huge publicity around the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are series has been a gift for archives. Everyone has been bitten by the Family History bug - even the parent of another child in my daughter's gymnastics class the other day was absorbed in the book as small girls vaulted and crashed around him!

Working with an Associate with particular expertise in Audience Development, I have spent an absorbing few months with the archivists and their users on an Audience Development Plan to translate some of this enthusiasm into longterm changes in who actually uses archives and record offices - younger people, more people from minorities, etc.

Contact me for details.

November is traditionally a time of remembering. I'm immensely enjoying meeting veterans of the Manchester Blitz on a project to create one of Britain's first artist-designed civilian war memorials. My role is community consultation, finding the Blitz survivors and getting them to meet the artists. It has been a privilege to meet them and transmit their stories.

The memorial will be unveiled in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester in May 2005.

For more info, contact me.

It's almost two months since DDA became law. Have you noticed any difference? I've been following the debate on the BBC's excellent Ouch! website.

The cultural sector organisations I work with still want reassurance that they are tackling basic DDA stuff correctly, but I've found some really sophisticated access ideas: audio description at rugby matches (Bradford Bulls); physical, intellectual and emotional access to the best photographic collection in the country (Bradford's National Museum of Photography, Film and TV)...

Yorkshire's MALDA Network stays ahead of the debate. I can give you good case studies, plans, Good Practice ideas and a context to what you're doing.

For more info, contact me.

New on the site are some images of the restoration of Shibden Hall – my personal project from 1998–2003. Gavin Reid, a conservation architect, to whom I am indebted for the photos, supervised the restoration immaculately.

Gavin's practice has lots of experience of the cultural and heritage sector so if your conscience is troubling you with that post DDA issue or you need a conservation architect versed in HLF, or even a cracking new design, do contact him.

Reid Design Associates
GavinReid@aol.com
0161 832 5350