Our oral histories, have rekindled a sense of pride in Morecambe, not just via nostalgia, but as a place to be proud of today, particularly within YP. ‘My Story’ interviewed older people across Europe, and the pride displayed in their home, and the desire to pass that feeling down to YP, shone through as the unifying European theme. Many European towns have experienced a heyday and decline in popularity through tourism. We aim to increase a European wide sense of local pride via oral histories.
 

Oral histories have long been known to have a positive therapeutic effect on both storyteller and story collector.  Over recent years we have collected stories from more than 20 local people and visitors to Morecambe. The common theme within each of these stories is the pride and love for Morecambe as a town. For many this experience is placed in a nostalgic past, and sadly, there is little pride to be found today. Our story and project idea, is to rekindle the pride which is lacking in many local younger people, by capturing this wealth of nostalgic pride and passing it down to the younger generations via oral histories.

As a newcomer to Morecambe, I did not have the pleasure of strolling along the two beautiful Victorian piers or watching a beauty contest at the biggest outdoor pool in Britain; or dancing at the Winter Gardens ballroom. I didn’t get to see Morecambe & Wise, The Beatles, Shirley Bassey or the Joe Loss Orchestra.
And yet I have seen every one of these, up close, and in intimate detail. Because I have had the pleasure of interviewing the people of Morecambe and capturing their personal memories. More powerful than history books, more detailed than photographs or film, personal memories transport you back, so you are actually there, not just spectating, but you are genuinely part of the experience. And that can have a profound effect on the way you feel about a place, how it links to other places, and its own unique place in history.
 

There are two European dimensions to the story. Firstly, the pan-European nature of the heritage is illustrated as oral history projects interviewing older people very often address three fundamental questions – Who am I, where do I come from and where do I belong?  - The commonality of voices here is very evident.

Secondly it addresses the role of the heritage in the development and promotion of the common values that underpin European integration. This is illustrated by the increase in use of nostalgia throughout many European towns where a common experience such as a decline in tourism has forced organisations to consider the past as a way of attracting tourism back. The twenty films we made from the oral histories which focus on Morecambe are uploaded on two social media servers, and over the past three years they have been viewed more than 58,000 times, including several thousand views from across Europe.