This project will map a history and explore the heritage of hospital and healthcare sites in Hackney

The RCN holds an oral history collection of approximately 300 interviews with nurses talking about their lives and going back to WW1. The interviews have been recorded over the last 20 years and to date have been virtually untouched. This is because we did not have the money to pay for the interviews to be transcribed. We will use the grant to make transcripts and digital copies of the recordings so we can make the contents available online. The transcription process will be undertaken by the Living Memory Association (LMA), Edinburgh. THe LMA willa rrange for community volunteers to research content, edit and create products for community outcomes such as learning boxes. They will make digital copies to provide preservation copies of the original recordings. Sampls of the digital recordings will be held on the RCN network server. Summaries of the interviews and audio clips will be available ont he RCN Archives webpages. The transcipts will be searchable by the Archives staff. The RCN Archives staff will use a proportion of the grant to promote awareness about nursing histor, in particular public health nursing. WE will do this by preparing an exhibition with a related booklet. THe exhibition will tour at least 5 different venues in the UK - Edinburgh, Belfast, Manchester, Cardiff and London.