150 Stories Project

project

I was privileged to work with residents and day centre visitors at Pearey House Centre for the Visually Impaired in North Shields on the 150 Stories project. The project marks 150 years of the charity providing services for blind and visually impaired people in North Shields.

I was asked to create a series of fun and engaging storytelling workshops for two groups of day centre users, and encourage them to share their own stories and feelings about Pearey House.

I worked with two fantastic recording artists, Bridie Jackson and Simon Paul to capture the groups’ contributions, then edit and curate them in the soundscape below.

Legacies

After the sessions, group members shared the stories with friends and family members outside Pearey House. One lady discovered she was related to the Surtees family, and the group were invited on a sensory tour of Besse Surtees House on Sandhill, Newcastle Quayside, when the building reopens.

The 150 stories soundscape will tour with the anniversary exhibition in North Shields during 2023 and finish in the permanent collection at the Newcastle Eye Hospital in the Royal Victoria Infirmary. In recognition of its contribution to recording local history, the soundscape will also be included in the oral history archive by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums (TWAM).