Event to celebrate Shifnal Living History project

An intergenerational arts project which celebrates the history of Shifnal, is being unveiled to residents in the village next week (20 July 2011)

Shifnal Living History is a project that aims to bring new residents at South Staffordshire Housing Association’s Yew Tree Court together with members of the community of all ages to build up a unique “slice of life” archive for Shifnal.

A special event to celebrate the project is to be held at Yew Tree Court, a supported living scheme for older people, on Wednesday 20 July from 3.30pm to 6.00pm.

Over the past few months residents at Yew Tree Court and other local people of Shifnal have been sharing their stories, memories and photographs with artist Brendan Jackson and participating in textiles workshops with Maggie Allmark. Their stories have been shared with students at the local schools who have been using them as inspiration for drama and creative writing projects.

The artwork woven from the images and stories of those involved will be unveiled and there will be presentations and readings from those who have participated in the project. Refreshments will be served and there will be an opportunity to try some different textile techniques.

If you are interested in attending this event please contact Sarah Rollason on 01743 252305 or email sarah.rollason@shropshire.gov.uk.

Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member, said:

“This event promises to be an excellent way for residents and the local community to celebrate the Shifnal Living History project.”

Stuart West, Shropshire Councillor for Shifnal, said:

“I would like to say how delighted I am that this event is happening in Shifnal. To integrate residents at Yew Tree Court into the community and the fantastic involvement with the local schools should help to make Shifnal a more pleasant place for us all to live in. I hope that future events will be planned and I look forward to my visit to this event.”

Students from Idsall Secondary School and Shifnal Primary School worked with professional theatre company, Urban Voice, to create a drama piece inspired by the stories from residents at Yew Tree Court and memories from their own families. This was performed and filmed in June. A film showing extracts from the performance will be screened at the event.

Students from St Andrew’s C of E Primary School worked with Brendan Jackson to write their own stories about what life is like for them in Shifnal, and comparing that to the memories of older participants in the project and stories they gathered from family and friends. These have all been compiled into individually bound books that will be displayed at Yew Tree Court. Students from St Andrews C of E Primary School will be attending the celebration event and reading some extracts of their work.

This was a partnership project between South Staffordshire Housing Association, Housing Plus and the Community Arts and Festivals Team at Shropshire Council.

Opened in December 2010, Yew Tree Court is a Supported Housing scheme for people aged 55 and over located on The Grove in Shifnal.

Further information
Yew Tree Court is a state-of-the-art £3.5 million Supported Housing development for people aged 55 and over, providing good quality purpose built homes for rent or shared ownership.. It was developed by South Staffordshire Housing Association and built on the site of a former supported living bedsit scheme of the same name. The new Yew Tree Court features 30 two bedroom apartments and three one and two-bedroom bungalows, all of which include a private kitchen, lounge, wet-room style bathroom as well as residents lounge for socialising.

South Staffordshire Housing Association (SSHA) is part of the leading West Midlands housing organisation, Housing Plus. A values-led association, customer satisfaction is at the heart of everything it does and this is reflected in the current 90% satisfaction rating from tenants (January 2010).

Currently managing over 5,600 homes in Staffordshire and Shropshire, SSHA invests approximately £5m each year on a programme of works to enhance customers’ homes and communities. Its performance is in the top quartile for a number of measures and it works closely with partners to make a difference to people’s lives and revive a sense of community. For further information contact 01785 312000 or visit www.ssha.co.uk