Your Memories Wanted!

'MAKE DO AND MEND - WOMEN IN WARTIME' is a project that can involve all age groups.

Too young to remember the war? Now is your chance to play detective and record those unique recollections from friends, relations and neighbours before they are lost forever.

Sherborne Museum has been granted generous funding during the second of a three year programme managed by the MLA [Museums Libraries and Archives] Partnership and funded through the Big Lottery Fund to create a new oral history archive. The three year grant programme aims to encourage better use of collections to explore innovative and creative ways of increasing community learning and young people's knowledge and understanding of the impact and contemporary significance of conflict. Sherborne Museum chose the theme "Women in Wartime - Women on the Home Front" and was delighted to be chosen to participate and is now inviting people to contribute their memories. [ Follow the link to contribute on line, contact the museum on 01935 812252 or e mail info@sherbornemuseum.co.uk].

A number of special occasions are being planned during 2009 to enable participants to come together to share their memories and have them recorded for posterity. Younger members of the community will also be able to share the experience and a number of inter-generational learning resources will be drawn together to form a valuable research tool as well as an archive for posterity.

The memories contributed will be themed in four main categories - clothing, cooking, in the home and everyday life and will be searchable by region and year.

Didn't live in Dorset? We would still love to hear from you. Every memory is valuable to us and the resulting archive will be both available at the museum and on line making the resource nationally of value.

We suspect recycling is no new thing. How did you make ends meet, cook up tasty dishes, restyle your clothes? The possibilities are endless and even the smallest contribution will be valued.

Help us create a unique record of your experiences during the dark days of World War II

Judy Nash
Project Leader and Curator Sherborne Museum