Talking all things heritage!
Talking things through helps you release tension and improve your mental health. Each Monday between the hours of 10am and midday, residents are invited to Andover Library to have a natter with locals, family and friends as part of their Chat About event. On Monday 18th March, Wessex Film and Sound Archive (WFSA) were invited to join that week’s session and talk all things film and sound.
We were delighted to share the news of our community engagement project, Andover: An Overspill Story with locals. They were interested in learning more about Andover’s history, archive film and some of the wonderful filmmakers who have lived in Andover to date.
Despite not having lived in Andover long, they were pleased to hear that they can still contribute to the project. While we have some lovely footage of Andover at WFSA, there are gaps. We are particularly short of material that captured the town TODAY.
Many of the locals said that they are part of existing community groups and sport teams across Andover and often go to events in the town as part of this. However, the lived experience and activities of these events and groups is missing from our collection. By collecting material from those who are living in the town now, this will ensure that we have an archive that accurately reflects the diversity of the region.
No matter how long you’ve lived in the town, everyone has a story that’s worth telling. If you’d like to share yours with WFSA, please get in touch: archives.enquiries@hants.gov.uk
This event was part of a series of events that will be happening over the course of this year to support our project, Andover: An Overspill Story. This is a 12-month community project created with the support of the British Film Institute, awarding funds from the National Lottery to help develop our collections. At these events, we strive to engage communities with WFSA content, start a dialogue with individuals about their heritage and break down the barriers to accession for communities currently under-represented in archives and heritage. For information about future events, please use this link.
If you would like to support the project, please use our contact
form or email: archives.enquiries@hants.gov.uk
*Unless specified, the images included in this post are the author’s own.
Andover: An Overspill Story 