Community Stories Cornwall

Community Stories Cornwall documenting stories of ordinary people living through extraordinary times!

We need your help to work with communities all over Cornwall talking about their personal experiences of the Coronavirus crisis.

By contributing to this shared history of the pandemic, we hope to bring the community closer together and discover the incredible diversity of experiences and perspectives that can be found behind every door on every street, each showing a different side to community life here in Cornwall.

In 2020 we regognised that increasing levels of social isolation were being amplified by COVID-19, mental health, communities and rural people were vastly underrepresented across the cultural & media landscape so we recorded people stories & experiences during this time on the theme of ‘together’ 

The results were overwhelmingly positive people said 

“Loved the fact I felt like we were part of a community” 

“Definitely  made a difference to the way I thought about the street” 

“an absolute godsend for us” 

“being able to feel connected even though we were all meant to be locked away in isolation. It showed how important and natural it was for people to connect and support with each other” 

Activity & Objectives

• To collect and preserve people’s memories before they can be lost, over 10 months in 5 different areas of Cornwall

• Recorded, document and archived work to professional standards (with Kresens Kernow, British Library, UK Web Archive)

• Work with local stakeholders (Cornwall MIND, Cornwall Council, INTO Bodmin, INTO FILM, BBC) to give voice to those people in Cornwall excluded from traditional historical records

• Create 3-5 minute edited pieces that contribute to the preservation of Cornish dialects and ways of speaking, made easily accessible to the public. 

• Work with 6 professional to produce the testimonies as a resource in their own right distributing them online, on radio and as podcasts 

• developed skills of 40 community volunteers, schools and community groups through community workshops (In partnership with Oral History Society)

• Make an exhibition of the photography and audio piece in 2022 at Kresens Kernow 

• Develop an augmented reality experience of the project to share testimonies 

• Use Covid safe methods of high quality interview production. 

“I’ve worked down South Crofty tin mine, been blown up three times, been shot twice, worked with the circus, skied all round the world… but never a pandemic like this, I don’t think anyone has… It’s unprecedented .” —  Nick

“My one rock has been Brian up the road, old Nemos. He’s fed me loads, he’s helped me out… I think we would have all starved to death if it wasn’t for Brian, he’s beautiful ” —  Dave

Images ©CarolRea Annie at No.5  |  Tom & Ro + Family at No.10

In 2021 we will work with a number of photographers, sounds recordists and professional who will conduct the interviews and edit the material for publication.  Executive Produced by Clare Tavernor  

See our work on Coronavirus Stories in Cornwall here > 

The Cornwall Film Festival charity was established in 2002 and run by a small team, freelancers and volunteers. It was founded by a group of filmmakers to advance the education of the public in the art of cinematography, filmmaking and other forms of moving images including films in the Cornish language. It now delivers not just the Film Festival, but clubs, events, education, training and opportunities in the media industry, working with groups facing social, cultural or economic exclusion from the richness of media culture.

Read all about the Cornwall Film Festival here >