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Right to Reminisce

With their different experiences and knowledge of times gone by, people over 50 are able to share a different perspective on life which can inform and enrich all of our communities. The Village Storytelling Centre, through its Right to Reminisce programme, aims to exploit this relatively untapped treasure and share it with young and old alike.

Based in Pollok, south-west Glasgow, the Centre runs a variety of storytelling events, activities, community projects and training programmes for people of all ages. Right to Reminisce will provide for fifty people over 50 who have a range of needs but generally suffer from long periods of isolation, a lack of social engagement, no sense of purpose, and a lack of opportunity to take part in mentally stimulating activity.

Right to Reminisce plans to build on the Village Storytelling Centre's existing programme of reminiscence sessions, helping the over 50s share their stories more widely, but also documenting them for now and in the future through written stories, memorabilia, photographs, videos, and newspaper clippings.

The project will provide opportunities for some participants to become members of the Archiving Team where they will learn new skills including word processing, recording sound and vision, research and presentation.

The project aims to benefit primary school children by encouraging volunteers to take their stories into the classroom, and over three years hopes to promote better understanding between the generations.

What the group says:

Why should people vote for you?

We have been listening to people's wonderful , often incredible, stories for the past eight years - but these treasures have been disappearing into the ether. We want these stories to be kept and communicated, not only in books and on films, but person to person, in schools and youth groups - helping to bring history alive as older people get the chance to tell their stories in person. It's important that older people aren't left to feel on the edges of the community, their useful lives over. They have a huge amount of experience and wisdom to bring. It's important too for the generations to know each other better - our society is so fragmented and this results in misunderstandings and suspicion between generations. We want to build friendships across the generations. These are the reasons why people should vote for us!

What will you spend the money on?

We will spend the money on employing a full time project manager and assistant to work with our existing reminiscence groups. Together they will create an archive of stories and artefacts to illustrate those stories which will be developed into kits on different topics ranging from war days to the steamie. From these will be created kits which older people will take out to schools and youth groups to tell their stories and answer questions, enabling young people to delve into the past through personal contact with our reminiscers.

The Village Storytelling Centre website

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