Who are we?
We are a small friendly group of local history enthusiasts and welcome anyone who has an interest in the heritage of our local area. Established in January 2016 by a small group of volunteers following the Shirley Heritage Project, we continue to be affiliated with the Friends of St.James’ Park.
The Shirley Local History Group is also a member of the Southampton Heritage Federation, Hampshire Archives Trust and Oral History Society.
What do we do?
We offer a wide-range of activities which are mostly free-of-charge (some group visits do entail a small fee). You can get a feel for what we do from our previous activities which have included:
- Autumn Talks series of free public talks
- History Research Group
- Heritage walks
- Group visits to Archives & Museums
- Memory Lane reminiscence sessions
- Collecting and sharing Oral History interviews
- Support for local community events e.g. FoSJP events, Street Parties, FoSJP
- Giving talks to local groups & organisations
- Working with local schools and youth organisations
Although the current restrictions have impacted on our face-to-face meetings in 2020/2021, we are continuing to keep in touch with our members through alternative activities:
- Regular Memory Lane newsletter
- Shirley Local History Group Facebook page
- Shirley Spitfire Trail self-guided walk
How can you get involved?
To sign up to receive these communications or to get more information about our activities, please contact the Shirley Local History Group team on history@fosjp.org.uk.
Fundraising
The History Group relies both on voluntary donations (for example from group visits and talks) and external funding to support its activities. We are grateful to the National Lottery Reaching Communities funding which will enable us to run our Autumn Talks Series and Memory Lane sessions over the coming years.