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The Model Conversation

Exploring the histories of people with disabilities to inform the future of everyone

By the Cambridgeshire Alliance for Independent Living (CAIL).

CAIL was an independent organisation, which represented the voice of disabled people, older people and carers in Cambridgeshire. They passed on the lived experience of their constituents to organisations that deliver activities and services. Their aim was to make sure the voices of disabled people were heard.

The Model Conversation enabled local volunteers to discover the history of people with disabilities. They gained interviewing and multi-media experience and received accredited training from the Oral History Society. In addition the project gave a voice to people with disabilities, documenting their lived experiences in their own words.

This  short documentary was also made about the project and the people interviewed.

One of their roles was to document the impact of the Social Model of Disability The Model Conversation (2016)  project collected oral histories from 20 disabled people to evaluate how things have changed from the past and to make suggestions for the future.

The Blog

By using the interviews as a basis materials were developed for use by schools and other organisations as a training and educational resource.  These modules were developed for KS3 students but can easily be modified for use with other age groups and in other settings.

 

The Educational Resources

 

 

Funded by the National Heritage Lottery

 

I AM  Cambridge: Inclusion and Access in Cambridge

Disability History Month 2020: Gathering, sharing, celebrating, campaigning and archiving experiences of inclusion and accessibility in Cambridge. Raising awareness to bring about change through stories, memories, history and the arts.

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Do you have any information about the people or places in this article? If so, then please let us know using the Contact page or by emailing capturingcambridge@museumofcambridge.org.uk.

Licence

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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Thank you for exploring historical Cambridgeshire! We hope you enjoy your visit and, if you do,  would consider making a donation today.

Capturing Cambridge makes accessible thousands of photos and memories of Cambridge and its surrounding villages and towns. It is run by the Museum of Cambridge which, though 90 years old, is one of the most poorly publicly funded local history museums in the UK. It receives no core funding from local or central government nor from the University of Cambridge.

As a result, we are facing a crisis; we have no financial cushion – unlike many other museums in Cambridge – and are facing the need to drastically cut back our operations which could affect our ability to continue to run and develop this groundbreaking local history website.

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Thank you,
Roger Lilley, Chair of Trustees
Museum of Cambridge