Talking 'bout my generation: DONATE A MEMORY DAY at Museum of Brands gives older residents chance to tell their stories

A free event this month for senior citizens called DONATE A MEMORY DAY on Monday 26th September at the Museum of Brands, Notting Hill, gives older residents a chance to preserve their memories and voices for the future. Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the day will enable older visitors to the museum to celebrate age and their memories by ‘donating’ memories to the museum archive.

A team of volunteers, kitted out with a digital 'memory bank' will be on hand to capture the memories that might be reawakened by a visit to the Museum, which displays toys, sweets and fashions of each decade stretching back to the Victorian Era.

Many older people in the borough will remember the rationing years of the Forties and Fifties and others will remember when some of the nation's favourite chocolates - KitKat, Mars Bar and Rolo for example - first went on sale during the 1930s. These items, and thousands more, have been preserved at the museum and it is the personal stories attached to them that the Museum staff would like to gather.

Neil Ridulfa, the event co-ordinator says, "We can find out when a product was first sold and by whom, but what are much more interesting historically are personal accounts. The older one becomes, the more valuable one's memories are to historians. Coming along to DONATE A MEMORY DAY means your 20th century stories will never be forgotten."

He adds, "In any case, it will be a lot of fun going back over childhood memories."

If you are over 60 and would like a free visit to the Museum of Brands for DONATE A MEMORY DAY, please book ahead: 020 7908 0880 or info@museumofbrands.com

Key Statistics

- Over 12,000 exhibits on show at Museum of Brands, including Victorian perfumes, 1930s chocolate bars and 1950s jukebox.

- There are approximately 19,600 people aged 65 and over in Kensington and Chelsea, according to council statistics.

- If every person aged 65 or over in Kensington and Chelsea donated a memory in the form of a 2-minute audio recording, it would take someone 27 days and 5 hours without pause to listen to them all.

Museum Of Brands

2 Colville Mews, Lonsdale Road
Notting Hill
London, W11 2AR

book ahead: 020 7908 0880
or info@museumofbrands.com