The Covid-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on all aspects of the lives of people across the globe. It is essential that archive services capture a diverse and comprehensive record of these challenging and historic times, to aid future understanding of how much the Coronavirus crisis is affecting the local community and everyone involved.
Here are a few ways you can take part:
Covid-19 Collecting Initiatives – Wales
All Archive services in Wales would be keen to hear from you if you have anything to contribute, and you can find contact details for your local archive service by following this link: Welsh Archive Repositories
Here are some specific initiatives:
Conwy Archive Service: Letters from Lockdown
We are asking Conwy residents – old, young and in-between – to write a letter to the future describing their life under lockdown. What has changed, what are their hopes and fears, what has been unexpected? Visual memories in the form of artwork of all kinds also very welcome. Please send to archifau.archives@conwy.gov.uk whenever you are ready to share. Include your name, address and age if you wish.
Gwent Archives:
Gwent Archives are asking the people of Gwent to consider keeping a diary for journal of the coming weeks and months and to deposit it within the archives in the future. They can be recorded as pen-and-paper, or digitally, and can include photographs, sketches or poetry. You can get in touch with any questions about the project by email: enquiries@gwentarchives.gov.uk
North East Wales Archives: My Life During Lockdown
The North East Wales Archives wants to record the experiences of people in Flintshire and Denbighshire during this unprecedented period in history. E-mail your writing/images, with your name and address, to us at: archives@flintshire.gov.uk for Flintshire residents, and archives@denbighshire.gov.uk for Denbighshire residents.
National Library of Wales: Collecting Wales’ Covid-19 Experience
NLW are collecting a variety of items to record the effect that the current situation is having on our day-to-day lives, reflecting the similarities and differences of our experiences. Click on this link for more details: National Library of Wales: Collecting Covid
Swansea University: CoronaDiaries
Swansea University’s Dr Michael Ward is looking to recruit volunteers of all ages to take part in the CoronaDiaries project, the first social science study into the current crisis, which aims to study how we document our experiences during the pandemic. Click here to read more: Swansea University: CoronaDiaries
National Museum Wales: Collecting Covid Wales 2020
National Museum Wales has launched an ambitious public appeal to collect the COVID-19 experiences of people living in Wales. We are asking individuals, communities and organisations from across Wales to complete an online digital questionnaire detailing their experiences and feelings of life in lockdown. Click on the link to complete the questionnaire: Museum Wales: Collecting Covid