GET INVOLVED

Project: Kingston 2025 - Community Research Project - Apply now
Duration: May - October 2025 (with break over Summer Holidays)
Location: The History Centre, Guildhall, High Street, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1EU

Are you interested in your community’s history or your family’s journey to making the
London Borough of Kingston home?
Would you like free training in heritage and community research skills, like oral
history interviewing and ethnographic research?
Are you keen to tell stories which would not unusually make it into the history books
and gain experience in putting on an exhibition to share these stories?

Join us as a member of the Kingston 2025 Community Research Team.

Full training and expert support will be provided to help you research hidden histories and record untold stories about contemporary life in the borough.

The project will culminate in a final show, where volunteers will work together to put on an exhibition showcasing their research.

About the project:
Kingston 2025 is a landmark cultural festival marking 1100 years since the coronation of King Athelstan, the first King of a united England, right here in Kingston upon Thames. The festival will celebrate the borough’s rich history and diverse communities through multifaceted events and activities over a six month period.

A community research programme, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is a key component of the festival. This programme aims to uncover lesser known and hidden histories in the borough, as well as recording contemporary and living histories to preserve for future generations.

The project has five key areas to investigate, including Decolonising Kingston and Our Voices Less Heard, which aims to bring to the surface the stories of groups who are not usually foregrounded in accounts of the borough, for example migrant communities, working class communities, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ people.

This project is looking to recruit and train volunteer community researchers to uncover and investigate these untold stories. The research team will be trained to conduct oral history interviews, undertake archival research, and investigate and document contemporary life in Kingston.

The volunteers will work together with the Heritage Project Manager and Heritage Team at Kingston Council to put on an exhibition at the end of the project displaying the research they have done, gaining curation and event planning experience.

Availability:
10 sessions for training and planning will take place on Tuesdays between 10 AM - 2 PM at The History Centre, Guildhall, High Street, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1EU.

Session 1: 20th May, 10am - 2pm
Session 2: 27th May, 10am - 2pm
Session 3: 3rd June, 10am - 2pm
Session 4: 10th June, 10am - 2pm

[10th June - 15th July: Research Period with 1-1 support from the Heritage Research Manager and Volunteer Co-ordinator]

Session 5: 15 July, 10am - 1pm
Session 6: 22nd July, 10am - 1pm

SUMMER BREAK: Optional independent research & mentoring sessions

Session 7: 9th September, 10am - 1pm
Session 8: 23rd September, 10am - 1pm
Session 9: 7th October, 10am - 1pm
Session 10: 21st October, 10am - 1pm

Expenses:
We can offer travel expenses, lunch and refreshments at every Tuesday session.
If there is anything else you need to take part please let us know and we can discuss ways
we might be able to help with tackling barriers to entry.

Essential Criteria:

• Interested in telling untold stories

• Empathy and sensitivity to different life stories and cultures

• Good communication and interpersonal skills

• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with care

Desirable Criteria:

• We would welcome volunteers who are interested in conducting research with their own communities, for instance, within their own family, neighbourhood, network, workplace, or cultural or faith organisation, but this is not essential.

Benefits to Volunteers:

• Gain valuable free training in oral history and community research methods.
• Gain experience in curation and exhibition planning.
• Mentoring and support for a personal research project from the Kingston 2025 team.
• Contribute to a meaningful project that will uncover hidden histories and highlight the stories of those who are often ignored.

Commitment:

• Volunteers are expected to attend the training sessions listed above.
• Volunteers are expected to carry out personal research in the research period June 10th - July 8th, including undertaking at least two oral history interviews.

Application Process:
Please apply by filling out this form by 30th April.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and we will invite you for an informal interview. We will confirm whether you have got a place by 6th May. Volunteers may be subject to a DBS check through Kingston due to the nature of carrying out oral history interviews 1-1.

The programme for Kingston 2025 has been shaped through extensive community engagement and will be framed through an exploration of Kingston's past, present and future. Through this approach we will be working with community partners to research the many untold stories and histories of our communities in Kingston to tell a more confident and contemporary story of the borough. 

The programme will see communities, schools, students and artists working together creatively; sharing their stories and cultures to celebrate what Kingston means to them. Public events, exhibitions, performances and heritage projects will provide opportunities for people of all ages to get involved. Many groups will be organising their own events and exploring aspects of our lesser known histories to bring to life stories of the people who helped to shape Kingston over the centuries. The key themes identified for further discussion and exploration were:

• Decolonising Kingston - exploring migration stories and the experiences of our diverse communities, including how they continue to shape Kingston 

• Our Voices Less Heard - exploring the stories of groups and communities who are less known in histories of Kingston - from women and working class narratives to those of the LGBTQ+ communities. 

• Suburban Dreams - exploring Kingston as a place of settlement, commerce, industry and exchange, which will link to a major exhibition at Kingston Museum

• Kingston’s changing landscape - will look at the borough’s journey from market town to a place that is both urban and rural. Current environmental initiatives will be highlighted especially around habitats and clean water. 

• The River Cultures Festival on the Thames will provide a moment in the programme to bring communities together to explore river heritage by celebrating their own river cultures and traditions. 

• Kingston as a 21st Century Market Town - will  investigate opportunities for Kingston to reinvent itself as a 21st century market town and a centre for creativity and innovation rooted in a full appreciation of its heritage. 

We will be sharing more information about how to get involved as partnerships and projects develop. Please check in to this page to find out more about these opportunities as they develop in the next few weeks.