April has been an exciting and rewarding month for community-focused initiatives at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre. One of the highlights was the successful and warmly received launch of Moonrakers’ Educafe, which took place on Monday 27 April.

Generously funded by the Chippenham Borough Lands Charity, Moonrakers’ Educafe is a new community initiative inspired by the long‑running and successful Educafe CIC in Newbury. The project has been designed to bring people together through a shared interest in heritage, creativity, and conversation. Wiltshire’s rich and diverse history, especially in storytelling, has long served as a powerful connection between people and place, and Moonrakers’ Educafe seeks to continue and strengthen this tradition by offering a warm, welcoming and safe space where everyone is empowered to build confidence, connection, and belonging. We invite people to share their unique strengths, skills, stories, cultures and creativity to help build a supportive and resilient community, together.

The first taster day on Monday 13 April welcomed eight newly recruited volunteers alongside local community support providers. Our visitors were encouraged to explore a variety of activity tables set up throughout the space, helping them understand what the Educafe was all about and how it might be of help to the local residents they support. One of the key activities introduced on the day was Migration Stories, a community stories project. This project offers participants the opportunity to share their experiences and reflect on lives lived in and beyond Wiltshire, helping to preserve these valuable personal histories alongside the county’s wider heritage. A similar activity, My Story, aims to encourage long-standing residents to share their memories about their lives and Chippenham, in response to the Chippenham Our History project.

Alongside Migration Stories, attendees were invited to take part in several creative and social activities, including a Creator’s Corner (with the aim of decorating the History Centre for the upcoming Chippenham Carnival); a Games Corner with traditional board games and the chance to take part in a Dungeons & Dragons game; a Reading Corner featuring a range of historical material and a Crafter’s’ Corner, where we are looking at traditional crafts such as crocheting with opportunities to learn new skills including jewellery making. There was the chance to find out more about these valuable crafts which have been part of Wiltshire’s history and culture. We’d love you to share your own traditional cultural crafts with us too.

When visitors felt like taking a break, they were invited to step out of our archive Searchroom area and into the newly transformed community café space. Hosted in our education room and reimagined as a vibrant community space, this area provided a relaxed setting for conversation and the enjoyment of homemade cake and refreshments.

The response to the Moonrakers’ Educafe taster session was overwhelmingly positive. Those who attended commented on the friendly atmosphere, the sense of welcome, and the opportunity to connect with both people and heritage in a relaxed environment. Feedback included:

“A warm welcome, relaxed vibe and Welsh cakes.”

“I have enjoyed the cakes and the drink, also the books of the canals, Berks and Salisbury.”

“The visit was lovely [I] enjoyed the chats and refreshments.”

The encouraging response to the taster session highlights the importance and value of creating accessible, informal spaces where people feel comfortable engaging with heritage, with one another, and with the History Centre itself.

Then came the day we’d all been waiting for, the launch day of the Moonrakers’ Educafe! Our new volunteers had put so much work into planning and preparing the space for the session, and they were absolutely amazing on the day. We opened our Educafe doors on Monday 27 April from 10.30am – 2pm, welcoming some lovely new Educafe clients. The NHS’ Living Well Team from Chippenham & Corsham joined us, on hand to offer help and advice to those who might find it useful. We were also joined by our fantastic mentors, Educafe CIC based in Newbury who have been inspirational and have guided us along the way. Our newly formed Migration Stories project group had a wonderful time drawing self-portraits and listening to each other’s stories.

Again, the feedback from our launch day has been so positive, with those attending enjoying the atmosphere and “very friendly people”. Comments from those who visited included feeling friendly, interested, motivated and positive after their time with us. Plus, the homemade cake was very well received!

We continue to actively welcome feedback and ideas from our Educafe clients and volunteers, and this openness to community‑led suggestions is already having a meaningful impact.

If you know of anyone who could benefit from the Moonrakers’ Educafe, please pass the information on or let us know. Everyone will be sure to receive a warm welcome.  We are all about community connection inspired by history and heritage. What interests you, interests us. We’d love you to join us!

Contact us via email: MoonrakersEducafe@wiltshire.gov.uk or text us on 0757 014 7393

Introducing Moonrakers’ Educafe at WSHC – Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Gianna Torchia, Julie Davis and Sophie Bunce

Your History Centre Educafe Team