We were really excited to hear that the West Dunbartonshire women’s history group have been successful in getting Sharing Heritage Lottery funding for a new project, to run from 2016-17. The group, who previously took part in a GWL supported women’s history project, are striking out on their own and running the project themselves. Lorna Stevenston, GWL volunteer and tutor with the West Dunbartonshire Women’s history project, reports back on what has been an exciting year for the group and tells us a little about the new project they are about to start:
What an exciting and successful year 2015 was for the West Dunbartonshire Women’s History Group and 2016 promises to be another. Throughout last year, the group launched, conducted and celebrated their Sharing Heritage Lottery funded project ‘Women Making History in West Dunbartonshire’ that documented, preserved and championed the social life experiences of women throughout West Dunbartonshire during the 1950’s & 60’s. The women created two Memory Boxes, filled with donated authentic artefacts, and a colourful A5 Booklet filled will women’s testimonies, anecdotes, memories and photographs. After the successful celebration events and open exhibitions to mark the completion of these wonderful resources in August, they spent the last four months of the year fulfilling bookings for Memory Box Workshop Sessions with community groups of both older and young generations.
Seeing the end of this project, however, brought another exciting time and a new challenge for the History Group as it marked the process of becoming a constituted group. This new venture saw the women having to learn the processes of group constitution, completion of a funding application and project planning. The group also found themselves a new meeting venue within the local historical Town Halls Committee Meeting Rooms (very posh!) and placed their application with the Sharing Heritage Lottery for funds for their next project to further document, preserve and celebrate local women’s history. This new project will focus on the changing roles of women from 1939-46. Throughout these years of the second world war women’s lives changed forever – they changed from one of dedicated domesticity and working in ‘women’s jobs’ to one which saw many women take on the integrated roles of mother, father and breadwinner, taking on jobs normally occupied by men – munition workers, electricians, crane drivers etc. They also kept house, within the constraints of ‘making do and mending’.
The women aim to produce a further two publications from this project – one filled with women’s testimonies,
anecdotes, memoirs and photographs of these changing roles and the other a Wartime Family Recipe book filled
with local takes on ration recipe’s compared with modern day non-ration versions.They plan to celebrate the end of their year-long research with a replica V.E.Day Street Party event attended by all generations from throughout the community. There will be wartime music and live story telling alongside an exhibition showcasing donated artefacts together with the new publication as well as hosted ‘make do and mend’ and ration recipe workshops.The Group have just recently received confirmation of their success in securing Sharing Heritage Lottery funding for this project and so are really thrilled about making this project plan a reality.
If you feel you would like to join, learn with and/or support the group in any of their activities’ including but not limited to; oral/written history activities, gathering of artefacts and memorabilia from the period, sourcing quality WWII uniforms and producing a Wartime Family Recipe book, we’d be delighted to hear from you. The group will commence their first project 12 week session block on 6th April – 22nd June 2016 from 1-3pm within the Clyde Room of Clydebank Town Hall, Museum & Gallery, 49 Dumbarton Rd, Clydebank G81 1UA. For further information or to book please contact May Semple at may.semple@talktalk.net or on 07791343170.
