Century of Stories is a Heritage Lottery funded project managed by Leicestershire County Council Communities and Wellbeing Service.
It explores the social history around the individual and shared legacy of WW1, focussing on the impact of Leicestershire at the time of the conflict, in the immediate aftermath and how the deep rooted social, cultural and personal consequences are felt today. This important shared history of memories, commemorations, memorials, souvenirs and official awards, family and local histories are the focus of the project.
Some of the Heritage is within the service (Museums Collections, Local Studies Collections, and Libraries, The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland) and dispersed across independent heritage groups and museums within communities. Most importantly much of the heritage still remains in private hands.
The aims of CoS are to:
- Encourage research into and publication of the connection that people living in Leicestershire today have with the events of WW1.
- Use the focus of the commemoration to stimulate and develop local interest in, engagement in learning around heritage
- Use the power of WW1 connections to engage ‘non-traditional’ heritage audiences both around existing service provision and across the wider heritage community
- Develop a meaningful volunteering offer
- Pioneer formal and informal learning. Connect with schools through the national curriculum and adults through lifelong learning.
- Work with a specialist academic panel to commission targeted research.Cos works to achieve the above in the following ways
- Drop in sessions and History café in Libraries, Museums and other heritage venues
- Taster days and Sharing days at the Record Office for participants
- Pop-up touring exhibitions and community curated banners highlighting connections
- Offers a formal learning plan to link into the national curriculum for use in schools
- Offers informal learning
- Website and use social media to communicate and share connections
- Events as part of WW1 commemorations in Leicestershire
- Final learning weekend in 2018
Purpose of consultancy
We are seeking to appoint a consultant to evaluate the CoS project.
- The first stage of the evaluation will take place at the 2 year point, July-Sept16.
- This will seek to capture the work already achieved, highlight and document lessons learned and provide recommendations at the mid-point of delivery.
- To help inform a review of the outputs and objectives for the second stage of the CoS project and test the viability of the project being used as an exemplar for how the new strategy for Communities & Wellbeing Services, “Providing Less; Supporting More”, could be delivered. The second stage will take place Sept-Nov18 and include the Learning weekend.
Consultants are invited to submit a written proposal by 2pm on Friday 10th June 16 to Amanda Hanton.
Click here for the full Evaluation Brief
Requests for additional information can be sent to louise.sharples@leics.gov.uk
Website: www.centuryofstories.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/centuryofstories
Twitter: www.twitter.com/century_stories
