The People's Archive of Stratford-upon-Avon

Because Stratford’s history belongs to everyone. The People’s Archive of Stratford-upon-Avon helps preserve stories, memories and experiences from across our communities, ensuring local heritage reflects the people who live, work and connect here today.

We’d love to hear from people in response to our current projects and themes. We will also regularly share requests for submissions on these themes. These will give you a starting point and help us bring together contributions that connect with each other and create an engaging, meaningful archive for everyone to explore.

If you have an idea for a project or theme, we’d also love to hear it. We’re particularly interested in ideas that could spark stories, memories or contributions from a wide range of people and communities, and that could become a future People’s Archive project.

The stories are about Stratford-upon-Avon town, but you don’t need to live here to be part of it. Perhaps you grew up here, visit often, have family ties or feel connected to the town in another way.

A traditional history archive usually focuses on official records, documents and materials collected by institutions or experts. The People’s Archive of Stratford-upon-Avon is different because it is community-based. It centres everyday experiences, memories and stories shared directly by people with a connection to the area. Our archive values lived experience as much as written records.

We believe the best experience of The People’s Archive is to “explore.” There is a button in the top left, as well as a scrolling list of themes on the home page.

We recommend selecting a theme that interests you and browsing the histories that we have gathered.

You can also use the search bar and filter functions to refine your searches.

Hidden heritage refers to people’s stories, experiences and histories that are often overlooked, under-represented or unrecorded.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund are responsible for funding this project. Our current remit is focussed on the launch period up to Spring 2028, but we hope that the archive will continue to grow for many years.

Keep an eye on The People’s Archive of Stratford-upon-Avon website and our social media channels for current call-outs, projects, themes and opportunities to contribute. You can also get in touch via the website or in person at Escape Arts, where you can contact the archive curators. There are a few short questions we will ask, so that we can support you to prepare your contribution.

We accept contributions digitally and may be able to assist in taking photos of items if brought along in person. Please be aware that we do not have the capacity to store physical items for the archive so cannot accept donations in this way.

You do not need prior experience as our team will support you with your contribution.

The voices of young people are celebrated in the archive. They should be supported by an appropriate adult to ensure they understand the usage and permissions related to contributions.

Groups including schools, organisations and communities are welcome to submit as a collective. We would appreciate a representative of the group ensuring that all contributors are aware of the guidelines and permissions. Please get in contact via heritage@escapearts.org.uk if you are interested in a collaboration.

We are always keen to meet new volunteers! Our volunteers currently support The People’s Archive of Stratford-upon-Avon in a range of tasks. These include cataloguing existing material, researching contributions to provide additional context, writing copy to appear on the archive, and engaging with community events to collect oral histories.

We will share information about events, workshops and face-to-face opportunities through The People’s Archive of Stratford-upon-Avon itself and its social media channels. Please check these regularly for current opportunities.

Currently, the archive holds text, photographs, audio and video. We invite submissions in response to specific call-outs, projects and themes. If you have another kind of material or an idea for a future project, please contact the team so that we can discuss it.

Once we receive your submission, we will review the material against the current project or theme and the archive’s permissions requirements. We will curate accepted material so that it contributes to a coherent and engaging archive. Once it is ready to go live on the archive, we will let you know how to find it online.

Please only submit these materials when they have been specifically requested as part of a current call-out, project or theme.

Before submitting a photograph or image, you must be able to confirm who created it and that the person submitting it owns the copyright or has the right to license it to the archive.

The fact that you, a family member or someone else appears in a photograph does not mean that you own its copyright. For example, a photograph taken by a professional photographer is normally owned by the photographer, even if you are the person pictured. You must also have the necessary permission from people featured in the material.

Yes! Audio, music and video recordings can be submitted as part of a current call-out, project or theme.

If you did not write the music, create the sound or make the recording yourself, you will need to tell us who did. We need a clear understanding of who owns the relevant copyright before we can accept the submission, as well as any necessary permissions from people whose voices or performances are included.

No, today’s experiences are tomorrow’s history. We are interested in contemporary life and community stories as well as traditional historical accounts. We ask that contributions respond to the projects and themes we are currently seeking. We can help you figure out where your content might fit.

The team will need to be able to identify and contact you so that permissions can be agreed. However, contributions can be displayed anonymously on the website.

If your story is partial, please submit with as much context as you have, provided it responds to a current call-out or theme. It may be that we delay publication whilst the team undertakes research.

You must own the copyright in the material you submit, or have the right to license it to us.

For photographs and images, this normally means you took the photograph or created the image yourself. For music, audio and video, it means you created the relevant work or recording yourself, unless you can clearly identify the copyright owner and confirm that you have the right to license it to the archive.

When you submit material for inclusion, you agree to make it available under a Creative Commons licence. This means that, in general, other people will be able to access, copy, reuse, adapt and share the material themselves, subject to the terms of the particular licence and any exceptions we explain.

In practical terms, you should only submit material if you are comfortable with other people being able to use and change it in this way.

The copyright does not automatically transfer to Escape Arts simply because you submit the material. However, the Creative Commons licence gives the public broad rights to reuse it. We will explain any exceptions or additional permissions that apply to a particular contribution.

If we have borrowed your item to prepare a submission, it will be returned to you as soon as possible.

All information is held by Escape Arts in compliance with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Please contact Escape Arts if you have concerns about a contribution after publication. Because material shared under a Creative Commons licence may already have been copied, adapted or shared by other people, we may not be able to control or remove every copy elsewhere. Although, we will take every measure to remove it from our channels.

Yes. You need the necessary permission from people featured in the material you submit.

This is separate from copyright ownership: being pictured in a photograph does not by itself mean that you own the copyright. You must also be able to identify the person who created the photograph, image, music or recording and confirm that you have the right to license the material to the archive.

All contributions will be treated with respect and care throughout the process. If a story is sensitive or potentially triggering, the team may delay its publication in order to follow our Duty of Care protocols.

Important before you submit: Before sending us your contribution, please check that it responds to a current People’s Archive call-out, project or theme. We’ll also ask you to tell us who created any photograph, image, music, audio or video you are submitting, and to confirm that you own the copyright or have permission to license it to us. Please make sure you have the necessary permissions from anyone featured in the material. This helps us make sure we can share your contribution safely and appropriately. If we’re not clear about who owns the copyright, we may not be able to accept the submission.