A ‘Somers Towner’ is up for a national award for the work in setting up a museum for the area.
The People’s Museum Somers Town only opened in May 2022 and its founder Diana Foster is a finalist at the Museums Change Lives Awards which celebrate the achievements of museum and individuals that are making a difference to the lives of their audiences and communities across the UK.
The shortlisting reads:
‘Diana’s work in founding a community museum and living memory project has impacted Somers Town, Camden’s sustainable development at a time of uncertainty and encroaching gentrification. She worked to preserve local identity and memories in a place of radical reformers; where innovative social housing projects took place and radical thinkers such as Wollstonecraft and Padmore lived. She has campaigned tirelessly to promote this history and an area’s sense of place, and the museum aims to become a site of social justice: a community hub as well as a repository of memory.’
Museums Association
Diana said, “sustainable development is not just about recycling cups – it’s about an area having a sense of place and a voice – I felt that this area was being overlooked in the recent tsunami of development and hence the museum came about – after 6 years of work with many people.
Diana Foster
Diana will attend this year’s awards in Edinburgh in November as part of the Museums Association’s annual conference. More info: https://aspaceforus.club/2022/10/11/news-shortlisted-for-an-award/
Please see People’s Museum Somers Town which is open Wednesday to Friday from 10.30-5.30pm
To view the shortlist for the MCL awards 2022 please see the MA website. `@museumsassociation
