Memory Box Project Online

Memory Box Project Online is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and began at the start of March 2020. Our Digital Officer Katherine Mills is working on documenting, researching and uploading everything we have in our collection to make it more accessible both now and in the future.

The website will benefit the community in the following ways:

• Anyone in the world can browse, explore, comment and share memories about our items

• Individuals, families or paid carers can create bespoke online memory boxes, across any theme

• We are able to share items that we can’t take around with us, i.e. large/heavy items, items we cannot clean and fragile items

• Eventually we will be adding a function for people to add their own heritage items

Katherine is working with our website developer Matt Weet, in order to design the website (which will be separate but linked to this one) and ensure it functions successfully.

Along the journey, Katherine will also be tutoring some people from Wessmaps Housing Trust in digitising items and uploading them onto the website. These participants may be vulnerable and have learning disabilities, and we look forward to working with them.

We will also be holding a number of events in the Autumn, with a view to engaging people from the community who an interest in using the site and learning how to use it. The events will introduce the functions of the website, as well as its applications in reminiscence for people with dementia.

We are currently exploring ways we can make this process as efficient and manageable as possible. We are in dialogue with the University of Southampton internship programme, and would also love to hear from anyone who might be interesting in lending Katherine some of their time on this project.

Please contact Katherinem@wessexheritagetrust.org