My experience of volunteering on this project
In 2019 I moved to England to do a master’s course in museum and heritage development. By February 2020 I secured two interesting placements that would give me a great professional experience. Unfortunately, everything was cut short with the arrival of Covid-19. All my placements were cancelled and none of them knew how to adapt to the new circumstances that required adapting to remote work. Fortunately, I received an email offering volunteer positions on an interesting project, very different from what I had done to date. This project was The Heritage of Nottingham Mental Health Provision. I decided to give it a go, although I did not have any prior experience of oral history interviewing.
What I valued most about being part of this exciting project is the complete and enriching training received from Verusca. We received a complete online training in how to conduct oral history interviews; apart from the quality of the training, having access to online structured learning sessions helped me tremendously during the first lockdown, by motivating me and keeping me active, which I greatly appreciated. It seems ironic that a project aimed at collecting memories and testimonies on mental health services helps the wellbeing of the researchers themselves.
The project has changed my way of approaching mental health problems by normalising and accepting them, and empathising with people with mental health problems and their family members. It is not always an easy task to listen when someone relates painful experiences, but the process is compensated by the gratifying testimonies of recovery and hope. Before this project, oral History was a discipline unknown to me. I have become absorbed in this methodology and have understood its importance for preserving the social history of disenfranchised groups, who are usually silenced in the mainstream, for future generations. Oral histories become an inestimable source of knowledge and lived experiences.
For my part, I would like to thank Verusca, for her patience, determination, tutelage and passion for social history and teaching, accompanying us during this unique journey.
Thank you.
Federico Arguinarena Diaz