These podcast episodes explore the Banbury Heritage Project, a collaboration between Historic England and Age UK Oxfordshire. Running from March 2023 to December 2024, it engaged older people, particularly those with visual impairments, in heritage activities to support well-being.
Listen to the introduction Podcast here.
Helen Fountain – Project Co-Ordinator
Helen Fountain, the project lead, highlights the value of lived experience-led projects, where participants shape activities rather than passively receiving information. Sharing personal histories fostered connection and purpose, while accessibility challenges—such as navigating historic sites and handling artefacts—were addressed through solutions like audio descriptions and replicas.
Age UK Oxfordshire’s Creative Ambassadors played a key role in supporting new participants, building confidence and encouraging engagement. Collaboration with Banbury Museum, the Mill Arts Centre, and Historic England ensured the project’s success.
This episode emphasises the importance of inclusivity in heritage, demonstrating how co-creation and accessibility make cultural spaces richer and more meaningful for all.
Fran Hughes (Participant) and Helen Fountain (Project Lead)
Host Farrell Renowden speaks with Helen Fountain, the project lead, and Fran Hughes, a participant. Fran shares how the project helped her stay socially connected and maintain a sense of purpose, reducing isolation often experienced by people with sight loss. Helen highlights the importance of lived experience-led projects, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity in heritage spaces.
The project featured talks, site visits, and object-handling sessions, allowing participants to engage with history through touch and storytelling. Key themes include breaking assumptions about disability, the importance of community, and the need for accessible heritage experiences.
The episode emphasises how inclusive projects foster learning, confidence, and long-term engagement with heritage.
Andy Smith – My Vision Oxfordshire
Host Farrell Renowden speaks with Andy Smith from My Vision Oxfordshire, who provided specialist support on accessibility for people with sight loss.
Andy highlights the importance of lived experience in heritage projects, ensuring accessibility through audio descriptions and touch tours. He explains how sight loss varies, affecting how individuals engage with history. The discussion covers challenges such as the inability to touch historical objects and solutions like tactile books with material samples.
They also explore the value of partnership working, sharing best practices to improve inclusivity in the heritage sector. Andy stresses the need for accessibility to be standard rather than an afterthought.
The episode highlights how inclusive heritage projects enhance well-being, giving participants a sense of purpose and ownership, and ensuring that cultural spaces are accessible to all.
Supersum – Evaluating the Project
Host Farrell Renowden speaks with Tim Senior and Karen Gray from Supersum, who provided evaluation support.
The discussion highlights the challenges of measuring well-being in heritage projects, as well-being is deeply personal and complex. Instead of traditional evaluation methods, Supersum developed a reflective tool that allowed participants to articulate their experiences in their own terms. This approach ensured that evaluation was meaningful and participant-led rather than imposed.
They also discuss the importance of flexibility in co-designed projects, where different people engage in different ways. Some participants took leadership roles, while others simply enjoyed attending. The episode underscores the need for ongoing learning and inclusive evaluation methods to ensure heritage projects have lasting impact.
The conversation concludes by stressing the importance of using participant stories to inspire future engagement in heritage.
Linda Monckton – Historic England
This episode of the CADA podcast features Linda Monckton from Historic England, discussing the Banbury Heritage Project, a collaboration with Age UK Oxfordshire.
Linda highlights how heritage is all around us, but access barriers—such as a lack of seating in historic sites—can prevent full engagement. She stresses the importance of lived experience-led projects in identifying and addressing these challenges. The discussion also explores the role of audio descriptions, which benefit both visually impaired and sighted visitors by offering deeper engagement with historic spaces.
The conversation emphasises the need for co-production, ensuring participants shape projects in meaningful ways. By embedding accessibility and learning from lived experience, the project has helped inform future heritage initiatives, making cultural spaces more inclusive and enriching for all.
Bee Myson, Carey Morey, and Chris Beamond (Local Partners)
This episode of the podcast features local partners Bee Myson (Age Friendly Banbury), Carey Morey (Banbury Museum), and Chris Beamond (project participant and volunteer) discussing the Banbury Heritage Project.
The discussion highlights the importance of lived experience in making heritage more inclusive. Participants gained insights into accessibility needs, such as clear signage, appropriate seating, and tailored audio descriptions. These simple but meaningful adjustments can benefit everyone, not just those with additional needs.
Chris shares her experience of reconnecting with Banbury through the project, demonstrating how personal stories and heritage are deeply intertwined. The episode also explores the wider impact, from fostering friendships to inspiring other community projects.
The key message is that small changes—driven by listening to those with lived experience—can make heritage spaces more welcoming and enriching for all.
Farrell Renowden – Project Reflections
Host Farrell Renowden reflects on some of the themes and ideas for next steps. Farrell responds to seven questions that were used to frame this series and in episode one, she explain why they were used specifically. She also mentions the fact that this project was about two key lines of inquiry, the co-design of the delivery model and the co-design of a new evaluation framework. This final episode predominantly focuses on the delivery model.
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