About Us. Heritage Project

Introduction

The Banbury Heritage Project was a co-produced partnership project between Historic England, Age UK Oxfordshire, a group of older people from Banbury and Supersum evaluators.

The 18-month pilot project aimed to explore and overcome some of barriers to engagement with heritage for older people living with sight loss and mobility challenges. Many of the project participants faced challenges such as age-related frailty, social isolation and sight loss.

Project participants and resources

Over the course of the project participants took part in regular group sessions with themes selected by the participants and they went on visits to local heritage sites.

During the course of the project the group created a tactile mosaic which is destined for display at the Mill Arts Centre in Banbury, an audio book version of chapters from the book Memories of Banbury by local author the late Marjory Lester (project participant Helen Middleton is Marjory Lesters daughter) and created postcards generated using AI technology representing the participants favourite aspect of the project and including an audio version of each story accessible via a QR code on the postcard.

Funding and Support

The project was generously funded by Historic England and co-produced by the project participants and Age UK Oxfordshire with support from local heritage and age sector partners.