Oral History and Sport Presentation

1. Sporting Heritage:
Paralympic Heroes
Claire Days
Project & Training Manager
Eastside Community Heritage

2. • ECH established in 1993, became an
independent charity in 1997.
• 1999 – established the East London People’s
Archive (supported by the HLF)
• Archive now holds 2000+ digitised oral history
interviews, 28000 digitised photographs,
memorabilia and film.

3. • Work on approx. 6 – 10 arts & heritage
projects every year
• Produce exhibitions, workshops, films,
podcasts and educational resources for
teachers and organisations.
• Oral history features heavily in our work,
particularly stories from traditionally “hidden”
communities.

4. • “Memory Games” Project
• Commission from the London Borough of Barking
& Dagenham, 2011 - 2012.
• Recording the stories from former and hopeful
Olympians and Paralympians
• Strong focus on experiences of Paralympians

5. • Recorded 24 oral history interviews, archived
and preserved in the East London People’s
Archive.
• Produced a 10 minute video documentary.
• Produced a touring exhibition, which toured
extensively in the borough.

6. • Beverley Gull MBE
• Started swimming as a rehabilitation tool after
an accident in 1981.
• Competed at Paralympic Games in Korea
(1988) and Barcelona (1992).
• Won eight Paralympic medals.

8. • Mike Brace CBE
• Blinded in a firework accident aged 10 (1960)
• Competed in the first Winter Paralympics in
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, 1976 (Cross country
skier)
• Competed in six Paralympic Games
• Chair of ParalympicsGB from 2002 - 2008

9. • Mike Brace Soundclips
• 1 – Paralympic
Competitor
• 2 – Sport Challenge
• 3 - ParalympicsGB

10. • Craig Moate
• Hoping to compete at Rio 2016 (Brazil)
• Already competing at International Level,
winning 33 gold, 10 silver and 4 bronze
medals
• Broken 11 world records
• Ranked number one in the world for a number
of swimming events

12. • More information about this project, and
many others, can be viewed on our website:
• www.hidden-histories.org.uk
• Keep up to date with all of our projects
through Twitter (@EastsideCH)

13. • Access to full oral histories available by
appointment, please call 0208 553 3116 or
email office@ech.org.uk to book a time.
• Questions?
• Thank you for listening!