YOUNG HERITAGEAMBASSADORS

P R O J E C T P A C K

Hello and welcome to the Young Heritage Ambassadors (YHA) scheme!

The YHA scheme is run by Culture Perth & Kinross, the charitable trust responsible the museums and libraries in Perth & Kinross.

What are the Young Heritage Ambassadors?

The Young Heritage Ambassadors award scheme is open to young people in Perth & Kinross up to age 18.

Heritage is another word to describe history. This may be something that happened a long time ago or just a few years ago. The interesting old buildings in your local area could also be heritage.

Heritage could also be something that a group of people do and is passed from one generation to the next. For example, heritage can be a way of life or culture, including songs, stories and traditions.

An ambassador is somebody who can come together with other similar people. They may share what they know or act as a representative or mentor.

So Young Heritage Ambassadors are young people who explore and discover local history and share it with others.

What do you need to start a YHA project?

All you need to get started is:

• An adult to supervise and sign off your project. This can be a teacher, parent, or other community leader.

• A space to meet.

• An enthusiasm for heritage and culture.

• A willingness to get out and explore your area.

• To be prepared to approach members of the community; they may have a wealth of knowledge to share.

How can Culture Perth & Kinross help you get started?

• YHA project guidance. This includes: - Steps to help you plan your project. - Recording sheets to help you track your progress and report back at the end.

• Space to meet in Culture Perth & Kinross venues. These include libraries and museums, depending on availability.

• Support in identifying contacts and partners within the community.

What will you receive once you complete and submit your YHA project?

• Recognition and celebration of your achievements at an annual celebration event in June.

• A Young Heritage Ambassadors wrist band.

• Invitations to family exhibition previews throughout the year.

• Quarterly YHA newsletter highlighting upcoming events, exhibitions and YHA opportunities.

• Yearly invitation to a young people’s focus group to help inform what’s happening across Culture Perth & Kinross.

• One free child ticket to Culture Perth & Kinross charged exhibitions.

YHA Prizes

You can choose to enter your YHA project into one or more of our annual prize categories. These include:

• “Creativity” award for the most creative interpretation of heritage.

• “Best Ambassador” award for the project with the widest audience reach.

• “Partnership” award for the project with the strongest community links.

Pick your topic

Already know what you want to discover and explore? Great! You can skip right to the next stage of planning.

Not sure what you want to discover? Use these steps to help you come up with a project focus.

What do you know about the history of your area?

What do you want to find out about?

Not sure? Here are some activities and questions to help you think about what you might want to discover:

Organise a walk around your town or a visit to your local library for your project group. What local clues can you find? These might take the form of monuments, buildings, standing stones or street names.

Are there local names for different areas? Why?

Can you find old maps of your area? Check out your local library, or the National Library of Scotland maps website. Compare the old maps with the townscape today. What has changed?

Look at some old local newspapers and photographs.

Check out old school logbooks and magazines.

Talk to older family members or members of the community. Are there any local myths or legends?

Can you find out what local industries there have been in your area? What did people do for work? How far did people travel to work? Is this still the same today? Were children involved in working? How long did they go to school for?

Research your topic

Picked a topic to discover more about?

How can you find out about it? Think about places you might visit, people you could speak to, resources you could use, etc.

Share what you discover?

Once you explore and discover a part of your local heritage, you’ll need to find a way to share what you’ve learned in order to become an ambassador.

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking about what you could do:

• Heritage blog • Public artwork inspired by what you learned

• School assembly • Sharing event

• Publication (booklet, leaflet, info flyer) • Museum, exhibition or display

Who do you want to share with? Parents, friends, community members, peers?

Now that you have a topic to explore and an idea of how to share what you discover, make a project plan.

What ideas do you have?

Who could help you?

Young Heritage Ambassador Project Plan

Name:

I want to find out about:

I will share what I discover with:

Date started:

Steps:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Date Completed:

Submit you project

Once you have finished your project, fill out the project profile and send it in to:

Heritage Learning Officer

Perth Museum and Art Gallery

78 George St

Perth

PH1 5LB

If you would like to enter your project into one of our prize categories, be sure to fill in the questions on the back of the profile form!

Young Heritage Ambassadors Project Profile

Name of Project:

Adult supervisor/Teacher:

Number of young people in your project group (please attach a list of names of those involved):

Email address:

Mailing address:

What area of local heritage did your project explore and discover?

How did you share your discovery? Who did you share it with?

What skills did you need to complete this project?

Did you work with anybody in the community during your project?

If you would like to enter your project into one of our YHA prize categories, please complete one or more of the following:

Creativity Award: Most Creative Interpretation of Heritage

Interpretation is the way you choose to share the heritage you have discovered. This might be through an exhibition, a public artwork, a blog post, a school assembly, etc.

Please tell us in detail how you shared the heritage you discovered (max 300 words).

Best Ambassador Award: The Widest Audience Reach

How did you share your heritage discoveries?

Who did you share your heritage discoveries with?

How many people did you share with?

Is this number exact or estimated?

Partnership Award: Strongest Community Links

What community members or groups have you worked with during your project?

Please tell us in detail about the links you made with your community over the course of your project (max 300 words).