It’s now been over two years since our very first Wiltshire Inclusion Panel meeting on Monday 17^th July, 2023. I thought it might be a nice idea to take a look back at what we’ve achieved in those initial two years.

For those of you who don’t know, the Wiltshire Inclusion Panel (WIP for short) was formed as a way to help those interested in the history of the county with lived experience to support us with our work to better represent in our collections, the lives of those who have traditionally been under-represented or marginalised throughout history.

The Panel meets once a month on a Monday evening to discuss the work we are focussing on, which at present is looking at inclusive terminology, but also to enjoy each other’s company and share our many and varied thoughts and insights about the county’s history. We also get hands on with items in the History Centre’s collections.

Our achievements to date have been to research and compile a number of life stories based on historical records. We shared some of these at a disability event in Salisbury with great success, having some lovely, meaningful conversations with attendees. These stories have been catalogued and added to the Local Studies Collection here at the History Centre.

We have supported the staff at WSHC to move forwards with their work to make the History Centre a more welcoming and accessible place to be. This work has included the creation of a welcome board with details of staff on duty on view in the History Centre’s reception area, the creation of a ‘chill out’ room and a welcome to WSHC video aimed at supporting our neurodivergent visitors to feel more at home and secure, with added captions and British sign language.

We have been considering historical language and addressing it with enhanced catalogue entries. We have assisted in the creation of a subject category list for the Wiltshire Local Studes collection and have identified instances of problematic language in our archive catalogue which have been flagged for attention.

We have enjoyed supporting initiatives run by others too, such as Create Studio’s wonderful Kahaani project, focussing on the South Asian migration stories of Wiltshire residents South Asian migration Stories – Create Studios We discovered a number of images in our collections that supported them with their project, and we are looking forward to hosting the Kahaani exhibition in due course!

Our work is important, and it has been making a difference. Here’s what some of our Panel members think:

“Hello, my name is Claire, I decided to join the Inclusion Panel to help raise awareness of hidden disabilities.  While they have always existed, they are only gaining recognition now as we share our stories.  A hidden disability is described on the government’s website as “a disability or health condition that is not immediately obvious.  It can defy stereotypes of what people might think disabled people look like”.  Unfortunately, disability can happen to anyone at any time.  I think it is important as a society that we show compassion and understanding wherever possible and all members of society have an equal ‘voice’.

Together we can make a difference.”

“Hi, I’m Dan. I joined the Inclusion Panel to learn more about local history. This has always interested me, and I like to learn more on local stories which may have not made the news for lack of public interest yet were still an important even for the people concerned. Working with the History Centre has given me a great chance to do this and in a short space of time have already unearthed many stories and events which mattered to the people of Wiltshire in the past. I hope to continue this into the future and continue to share Wiltshire’s great unearthed history.”

“I am a mother, history graduate, and have a background supporting secondary-age pupils with SEN/EAL. Next year I am taking a MSc in English Local History at Oxford.

I joined the Inclusion Panel because as an autistic woman, I am acutely aware of the lack of representation in published history. The panel provides an opportunity to unearth the stories of marginalised groups, working with enthusiastic volunteers in an inclusive environment. I am relishing the chance to research, discuss and, ultimately, share amongst the wider community, the stories of local people who reflect the diversity of human experience.”

Our work is ongoing and we always love to welcome new members! If you’d like to join us please do get in touch by contacting me at julie.davis@wiltshire.gov.uk or by phoning 01249 705534. We have also created the Friends of the WIP (FoWIP) for anyone would like to assist us but may not have any lived experience in a diverse community; you are more than welcome to join us too.

To find out more about the WIP and FoWIP please visit our web page via this link The Wiltshire Inclusion Panel – Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Julie Davis

WIP and FoWIP Co-ordinator