| Administrative History | Funded by £20,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Moon Stories project collected oral histories of Derbyshire people’s stories of the Moon and the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon Landing. Building on the success of Adverse Camber and Derbyshire Virtual School’s Stars and Stories project where young people in care and care leavers worked with a professional storyteller and an astronomer to develop their skills, experience and confidence which resulted in a brand-new performance which entertained and informed over 250 people at Wirksworth’s Star Disc as part of 2018’s Wirksworth Festival.
Moon Stories was driven by young people in care and care leavers from Derbyshire. Carrying out research at Derbyshire Record Office and online, the project participants discovered that, despite the fact Derbyshire possesses a rich aerospace industrial heritage, there are no records of local memories of the 1969 Moon Landing and very few well-known local stories about the moon. And yet, many local people the project spoke to had very vivid memories of this historic event, hence a project to capture these stories before they were lost. Ten young people collected and recorded over 40 stories and memories of the 1969 Moon Landings and stories about the moon from people in Derbyshire aged 55 and over. Building on the storytelling skills developed through the Stars and Stories project, the young people developed and performed new stories based on what they learned. The project launched on Tuesday 16 July 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lift off, and ran for one twelve months.
Moon Stories was developed in collaboration with Derbyshire Virtual School, with support from Foundation Derbyshire, Ashby Fund and the Royal Astronomical Society enabling the young people to learn more about lunar science. Support was also received from Derbyshire Record Office, East Midlands Oral History Archive and Scopes4SEN.
Moments in Time was a National Lottery Heritage Fund project developed in partnership with Derbyshire Virtual School, Amber Factory, Baby People and the Derbyshire Record Office. |