‘Inspirational Women’ of South Gloucestershire celebrated at exhibition
A celebration of some of South Gloucestershire’s most inspirational women was officially launched at an exhibition at Kingswood Heritage Museum on September 11th.
‘Inspiring Women: the legacy of the First World War in South Gloucestershire’ showcases the achievements of the women of South Gloucestershire who have made a positive impact on society, from the First World War to the present day.
It also demonstrates how the events of 1918 changed women’s lives forever as this was the year that not only marked the end of the war, but also saw the Representation of the People Act introduced. The Act allowed some women over the age of 30 the right to vote but it was not until the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that women over 21 were able to vote and women finally achieved the same voting rights as men.
It is important that we recognise and celebrate the significant and vital contribution that women have made and continue to make to this day in South Gloucestershire. Many of them are unsung heroes whose achievements and actions deserve the recognition that this exhibition provides.
Image: With kind permission of Kingswood Heritage Museum: Douglas
The exhibition will run at various locations across the area until July 2019.
Further details of the Inspiring Women project can be found at www.southglos.gov.uk/inspiringwomen
The project has been made possible by National Lottery players through a £9,600 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
Cherry Hubbard cherry.hubbard@southglos.gov.uk
Engagement Officer - Inspiring Women: The Legacy of the First World War
South Gloucestershire Second World War Stories
South Gloucestershire Council Cultural Services are delighted to have been awarded funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund for a South Gloucestershire Second World War Stories project. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project will explore the impact of the Second World War and growing up in the post war period.
The project started in April and we have undertaken the following:
Researched Second World War collections held by South Gloucestershire museums. These have been used to inspire reminiscence sessions for older people to share memories, recording particular stories through further interviews. We have booked 60 reminiscence sessions (last on the 31st October), which are being delivered in care homes across South Gloucestershire. Feedback from these sessions has been very positive and some interesting stories have come to light.
Barrage balloons (Courtesy of Bristol United Press).
We have booked 15 venues to host the touring exhibition which will run from February to September 2019. We are still working on the exhibition, but it will have six themes from Raids to war work. After the exhibition ends, the panels will be available for venues to use.
We are also in the process of organising 18 community events, the first of which will be at the Avon Valley Railway 1940s event on the 22nd/23rd September. We are also marking the start of the war with a big event at Aerospace Bristol on the 7th September 2019. This will mark 80 years since the start of the war.
We have started to create a small collection of short films with stories from people who lived and worked in South Gloucestershire during the war. These will be published over the coming months.
We are planning to also share the project through schools workshops in 2019.
The project is well under way and we are very much enjoying hearing the stories and meeting people who lived during that interesting time.
Thank you to all the museums, heritage centres and Gloucestershire Archives who have so kindly given their time and shared their collections and knowledge with us.
Hellen O’Connor - Project Co-ordinator, South Gloucestershire Second World War Stories
Hellen.OConnor@southglos.gov.uk