Enable's Heritage Our Past, Our Future Roadshow

In celebration of our 70th anniversary year, the Heritage Project, ‘Our Past, My Future’, has helped to raise awareness of our heritage with a roadshow of pop-up community events - made possible by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.

Activities included hosting a Time Travellers Workshop, working with our Youth Coordinators to look back at our history to help appreciate those who have paved the way for the rights we now benefit from. This provided the opportunity for young people with learning disabilities and support staff to learn about, share and celebrate their heritage by helping them to understand the important work of Enable and how life might have been very different 70 years ago. 

Next, we also hosted a pop-up event at Summerlee Museum of Industrial Life. This involved interactive activities and an opportunity to show our powerful Heritage Film, which focuses on deinstitutionalisation and helping to support people to live independently in their own homes. The film starts and ends with Lennox Castle, which is a familiar, harrowing site for many of institutionalisation. The event enabled discussions around this film, and the opportunity for individuals to interact with the archive material, including photographs. In addition, we generated a QR code survey which collated feedback and interesting insights, as we gauge understanding of Enable’s heritage.

In celebration of Disability Heritage Month, we launched the ‘Our Past, My Future’ exhibition  in Glasgow's Central Station. The exhibition documented the charity’s history and heritage over the last 70 years, sharing stories and experiences from individuals. Over two days, more than 200,000 people visited the station and where able to learn more about Enable's history. This resource will also be embedded on our website in the coming months.  

The exhibition was also on show at our Enable AGM for members and supporters to visit as and it as been a wonderful opportunity to create wider networks of connections, as Enable’s heritage has been shared far and wide in this our anniversary year.