Oral Histories

Throughout the years, we have created various projects that have captured the cherished sporting memories from local communities in the UK, which help to create a library of content that will encapsulate the sporting history and culture from that local area for many years to come.

Below you can view two of our ‘Oral Histories’ projects, and take in some of the brilliant stories and memories shared with us.

2025 Orkney Island Games

As part of an exciting project alongside Orkney Islands Council and the International Island Games, and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have been capturing oral histories and memories to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Island Games in 2025. 

This coincided with the 20th edition of the Games being hosted in Orkney during July 2025. Check out some of the memories shared from the most recent, as well as historical Games, in the link below. 

2019 Kent Sporting Memories Project

In 2019, we launched a project aiming to record and preserve the post-war history of sport in east Kent using oral history and reminiscence sessions.

By raising into focus people’s memories and lived experiences of sport in the region, we built a fuller picture of east Kent’s sporting past – including some of its traditions, places, social practices, events and icons – and to illuminate the ways in which this sporting and social landscape has changed over time. It is our hope that the project will give people the opportunity to discover and share the history of sport in east Kent for generations to come. 

The project was award-winning, picking up both the ‘Contribution to Wellbeing’ and the overall ‘Winner of the Best Community Archive and Heritage Group’ accolades at the 2020 Community Archives and Heritage Group (CAHG) awards. You can read more about this here.

The project was supported through the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players. You can visit the Kent Sporting Memories website below.