Oral History Project

Your Chance To Be A Part Of Beyond 2020: Community Reflections

We are launching a new arts, library and heritage project, encouraging local people to reflect on and share their pandemic experiences.

As part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, the project Beyond 2020: Community Reflections invites people from across East Renfrewshire to reconnect with one another and participate in library, arts and heritage activities.

Share Your Story

We want local people in East Renfrewshire to be at the heart of this project. We have a friendly and enthusiastic team of volunteers ready to gather community stories from people from all backgrounds and we anticipate there will be a range of personal stories to be told, some of sorrow, loss and hardship but others of hope and resilience.

Were you a keyworker who kept things going during the toughest times: a doctor, nurse, supermarket worker, carer or teacher? Did you work at a vaccine centre or volunteer in your local community? Perhaps you were furloughed or home-schooled your children? Maybe you moved here during the pandemic or had to take on a new job? Did you spend more time with family or did the pandemic make you feel isolated? We want to record all these experiences and many more and would like to invite you to take part in our project as an oral history interviewee.

Being interviewed will take up to a couple of hours of your time. It will take place in one of our community halls or libraries, wherever possible, and we will arrange a convenient time with you. After the interview you will be asked to review the recording and you will have final approval about what is used and archived.

As well as preserving the local Covid story, the interviews gathered through this project will be the inspiration for a photographic exhibition which will travel around East Renfrewshire libraries and community venues in the latter half of 2022 and be open to everyone.

Volunteer With Us

If you are willing to share your story through the project or want any further information, please contact us at artsandheritage@ercultureandleisure.org or phone 0141 577 3872.

This event has been supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. This fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.