Celebrated author marks end of history project
The Rotherham-born author and raconteur Gervase Phinn is due to pay a special visit to the town this month to celebrate the completion of a history project.
Scope Rotherham Day Service Oral History Group has spent the past year recording the recollections of disabled people in Rotherham. An archive of their experiences has been created and will soon be housed permanently at Clifton Park Museum.
Gervase Phinn, who worked as a teacher and school inspector before writing a series of books about his experiences, is due to give a talk at a special event on 8 April, being held to thank the people who took part in the project.
“We interviewed 30 people and they told us about their lives and their experiences as disabled people living in Rotherham,” said project co-ordinator Mandy Pettican. “They told us their life stories and how they’d been treated, how difficult they found life and the attitude of the public towards them.
"One lady who had polio told us that when she went camping with her family the camp site closed and she and her family were asked to leave! There was a lot of ignorance and fear associated with disability in years gone by but people are more aware and better informed these days. This project has demonstrated that things are changing for the better and we are slowly moving forward.”
All those who were interviewed have been invited to the event where they will be receiving a presentation box from Gervase Phinn. The boxes will contain a set of Disability Awareness booklets transcribed from their interviews and a podcast compilation CD.
The project was run by Scope Rotherham Day Service, thanks to a £41,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The booklets and CD will be freely available to the public, schools, colleges and community groups as a Disability Awareness resource.
For more information log on to www.speakingforourselves.org.uk or to loan the resources please contact Scope Rotherham Day Service on 01709 830820 or email frances.riley@scope.org.uk