We are excited to announce that Ripon Museum Trust has been awarded grant funding of £11,000 by Historic England through their Everyday Heritage fund to uncover the stories of disabled people at the Workhouse Museum. Disabled people were part of the Workhouse, including people experiencing homelessness, receiving temporary relief, long-term inmates, and staff working in the kitchen and gardens.
Using archival records and collections, a group of people with physical & learning disabilities within the community of Ripon will research and produce written and other creative responses to engage visitors in new stories, supported by our Community Curator and curatorial volunteers.
Participants will also work with an artist who specialises in co-curation to create artistic responses. Their work will help create powerful and personal new interpretation materials for Ripon Workhouse’s permanent display integrating disabled people’s stories into the museum.
The Everyday Heritage grant scheme was launched by Historic England earlier this year to support community-led projects and further the nations collective understanding of the past.
These community-led and people-focused projects all aim to further the nation’s collective understanding of the past, with a focus on heritage that links people to overlooked local historic places and celebrating working class histories.
These new projects will reveal and celebrate fascinating untold stories from across England: from the distinct history of the Dunston Staiths – a coal drop for ships in Gateshead, to the stories of the colliers, iron workers, and traveller communities that used tin chapels in the Forest of Dean. Led by people that might not normally engage with their local heritage, these projects will support them to tell their own stories, in their own way, and to connect with others in their local communities.
