Local History Cafe group

Local History Cafés are community based heritage and wellbeing get-togethers, aimed at tackling social isolation and loneliness through stimulating events, shared interests & stories.

We meet on the third Tuesday of each month, from 10am to 12 noon, in the Gallery Room. Our meetings vary, sometimes welcoming guest speakers and at other times working together on shared projects and interests. £3 towards refreshments.

Everyone is welcome! Some of our members also volunteer with the Museum, helping with historical research, collection management and supporting museum open days, as well as offering friendship and support to one another.

Whether you have an interest in local history, enjoy meeting new people or simply fancy a friendly chat over a cuppa, we would love to see you.

We produce monthly newsletters.   These can be viewed and downloaded here.

In April 2021 we received a Highly Commended award under the Volunteer Team of the Year category at the Leicestershire and Rutland Heritage Forum Awards ceremony.

 

 

Projects and Outputs 

Appleby Magna Heritage Walks Map  In 2019 the group created a leaflet detailing an walk around Appleby Magna with a focus on social history. 

The leaflet can be downloaded here.  Printed copies are available, for a donation, from museum@sirjohnmoore.org.uk or ask at one of our Museum Open Days.

Temporary Heritage Boards  In 2020 we were unable to host our usual September Museum Open Days due to Covid-19 restrictions.  Instead we participated in a NWLDC initiative and created heritage boards in 8 locations in Appleby to create outdoor heritage opportunities for those increasingly taking their exercise locally.  In September 2021, when we did have a museum open day, we again put the boards up for a couple of weeks and added a guided walk. The boards can be downloaded here.

LHC Newsletters and Facebook Page  One of the ways we developed for keeping touch, when lockdowns prevented us from meeting in person, was been via monthly newsletters. These have proved very popular and have continued, even though we are now meeting again.  If you would like to be put on the mailing list for these newsletters, or you have a memory to share please contact museum@sirjohnmoore.org.uk or via 

Evolving Education Project  The group worked on a history of education project.  Our building opened as a school in 1697, our museum represents schooling in 1891, and it now houses a primary school.  So we looked at how features of education such as who went to school, what they were taught, as well as what they had for dinner, varied between these three periods.  The LHC group worked on the two earlier periods and primary school children contributed to the current period.  An initial set of display boards was shown at our 2021 Open Day.   

Background to the LHC Activities

During 2018 and 2019, the Foundation ran a successful programme of Local History Cafés.  LHCs were created by Crafting Relationships, and our café was supported by MDEM, Tesco Bags of Help and our team of volunteers. 

Crafting Relationship and its network of Local History Cafés, including SJMF, receiving a Highly Commended Award for Partnership Working.

East Midlands Regional Heritage Awards 2019.

At the end of LHC funding SJMF created a Local History Café Extended group. 

In its first year the group received an award from the Sandford Cascade Project for Informal Learning (SAIL).