The Haslemere Museum was recently awarded a generous grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver a community based project to celebrate and mark their 100 years on the Haslemere High Street. The project is being led by Kay Topping. There are many elements to this project and it will incorporate art workshops and exhibitions at the museum in 2026.

At the moment, the team at the museum are looking for help from the local community to bring this to life. As part of this project,  Lois Proud (the museum's Community Engagement Officer) is running an oral history project. The objective behind this is to capture and preserve memories and stories of the past and the present. Lois told us, 'In general, spoken accounts can be used to fill gaps in historical evidence. They also give a voice to people often excluded from traditional historical records. And, crucially, they allow us to document traditions and stories passed from one generation to the next.' 

The project is also keen to create an opportunity for people to share and understand each other's stories and thus foster inclusion and mutual understanding within the wider community. 

Lois really wants to capture a diverse range of stories and viewpoints. Many of these will take the form of archived individual recordings but she would also be super happy to facilitate group discussions about shared experiences. Her aim is not just to capture and preserve reminiscences of life in Haslemere in the past but also to hear accounts of those living and working in Haslemere today. Lois hopes that, ultimately, 'the oral history activities will create opportunities for people to share and understand each other’s stories.'

Anyone who would like more information, or who is interested in being involved in the oral history activities by sharing their memories and stories should contact Lois at community@haslemeremuseum.co.uk.