Exciting news for LMA/Wee Museum of Memory, Ocean Terminal and the local community…

We can confirm that LMA will be running the empty Debenhams unit as a Community Heritage and Culture Hub. The unit is very big – two large floors and a restaurant area – so we hope that it will provide space and opportunities for a whole range of community activities.

When we sat down to discuss the possibilities our list grew quickly… At the moment we plan to use the ground floor as a heritage centre for Leith, working with Spirit of Leithers to expand their displays and organising themed areas for people to sit and watch films or slide shows about local history. Over the coming months we would love to work with any Leith-based group: perhaps art projects painting scenes of Leith streets on the walls or exhibitions by any community/culture groups in Leith. Even as a starting point for guided tours of Leith…

We intend the upper level to be less Leith focused and available for any groups who need space and have little or no finance to pay for hire of halls etc: it’s free! Youth groups, choirs, theatre, bands or art groups could use some of the space for rehearsals, workshops, and performances or displays. We are planning a dedicated stage area with seating and floor space for audiences and dancing – tea dances or themed events based around the music of different decades and style – wartime, 1970s disco, ceilidhs…

We have worked with a range of other groups in the past, including Leith Labs and Citadel Youth, and hope that these collaborations will continue and expand, as well as develop new projects with some of the other organisations in Ocean Terminal such as House of Jack dance studio, Projekt 42, Leith Collective, Street Soccer.

Working with such a vast space and a lot of different groups will mean there will be plenty of opportunities for volunteers of all ages and backgrounds. We also hope we will be able to offer a number of Kickstarter employment opportunities for young people.

If you are interested in helping or need some space for your project/group get in touch…

Behind the scenes at LMA/Wee Museum of Memory.

We have reached 2022 and hope that, despite worries about Covid, this will be another exciting year for LMA and The Wee Museum of Memory.

We have a lot going on behind the scenes at The Wee Museum which is usually not seen by visitors to the unit. In the office, our archivist David has systematically worked through and updated the records for our photographic archive. There are over 4000 photos in the collection and the online version is hosted by Edinburgh Collected. He is also responsible for maintaining a level of tidiness in the office – and the kitchen – that puts the rest of us to shame! Thank you David.

We also have a large – and ever increasing – collection of records. Mostly 78s (a few 45s and 33s in the mix) and mostly Shellac which is both more brittle and heavier than vinyl. The storage of the record collection has proved challenging but the creative hands of Miles and the organisational skills of volunteer Caroline have worked wonders in making the collection much more accessible. It is now possible to find particular recordings on request. There is always work to be done however, and there are still some letters to be organised – as well as incorporating new additions. As well as storing the records, they have also been indexed by another volunteer Mark; both tasks have taken many hours of patience. Thank you Caroline and Mark!

Of course the records need somewhere to be played and this is our recording studio space with two decks and sound proofing. It is here that Miles spins his selections and records podcasts. The studio is also used when we record reminiscences.

Staff and volunteers alike contribute in lots of different ways to our work and as a charity we rely on grants and donations and are very grateful for the support we have been given and continue to get. Thank you to all our funders and also to visitors who have helped. Every penny helps!

Looking forward to new and exciting news in 2022: work is continuing with our application for museum accreditation and we are expanding our physical space, as well as increasing our remit, to co-ordinate the space that was previously Debenhams, into a community heritage and cultural hub. We’ll keep you posted on future developments!

Due to the increasing spread of the Omicron variant, the Scottish Government has introduced new guidance to maintain a safe environment for staff and visitors. Most visitors have been wearing masks, as have staff and volunteers, but we are reminding people that they must be worn and to avoid crowded spaces and maintain social distancing during their visit. We have not re-introduced a one-way system yet but we may do so at some point.

The Wee Museum has been a wee bit quieter the last few weeks but we are still seeing a reasonable number of visitors per day. Again to keep the museum a safe space – and allow people to view our materal comfortably – we may limit numbers at times, if necessary.

We hope to remain open with a small number of staff over the holidays, but Government guidance may change and we may have to close to the public. Please do check our social media for information before visiting.

Even if we are not open, our staff and volunteers will continue to work from home: FB posts, designing booklets and newletters, planning new projects, applying for funding, collating information about our collection, updating the photo archive, recording and editing podcasts, and, of course, continuing our knitting project. We’ve completed a few squares – of varying sizes – and hope to start joining them together in the New Year

The uncertainty about the new variant means that we all have to be sensible and ensure everyone is as safe as possible. If we do close you can follow our work on our social media, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to our Wee Museum and to some new and exciting projects in 2022. Watch this space!

We’re now in December so The Wee Museum of Memory is getting ready for Christmas with trees, tinsel and presents…

This week we had a visit from a group of lottery jackpot winners organised by Camelot, who brought us a new tree, decorations, presents and hampers for some of our regular users. Due to concerns about the new Covid varient, we decided not to hold a party as we had planned, so will give out the hampers individually. We’re sure that they will still be much enjoyed. May was delighted with her one yesterday.

Kermit has been having a look at some of the presents under the tree and wondering if there is one for him…Maybe one of them might be a selection box or a Beano album? We’ve been sharing memories of our childhood Christmases with visitors: treats, family rituals, favourite foods…

Some of our visitors have added their memories to our Christmas Memory Tree… ‘Dressing the tree and eating Christmas lunch together and then showing Granny my presents from Santa.’; ‘Making trifle on Christmas Eve with my dad and eating all the sponge fingers!’ ‘ Leaving my dad’s long woolly scout sock at the side of my bed. Having a good feel of it in the morning before starting to empty it. Always had a pack of chocolate cigaretts, a mandarin and a threepenny bit among other things.’ ‘Kids wanting to get up at 4.00 as Santa had been…LOL.’

There’s still room on the tree for your memories if you are passing.

We are also pleased to have two new members of staff working on cataloguing our collection of objects: Louise and Naomi. This is going to be a mammoth task, as regulars will know our museum is packed with donations. Louise started earlier this year to help co-ordinate our application process for museum accreditation and Naomi started last month as part of the Government Kickstarter programme. Welcome and good luck!

Keep up to date with what’s been happening with LMA/Wee Museum of Memory.

Now that November has arrived and the Christmas decorations adorn Ocean Terminal it’s time for a few changes.

Coming soon: Bobby’s Christas trail. Bobby’s Heritage Trail which we ran during the summer was a great success so we are starting a new one for Christmas…Look out for more information on our FB pages.

We will also be putting up our Christmas memories tree and hope that our visitors will decorate it with their own memories of Christmas.

Get out the knitting…

The knitting bug has continued to spread with Thursday mornings coffee and knitting with May had Louise, Delphine, Evelyn and Joyce picking up their needles while May gave Barry a lesson. Even Miles has been inspired to give it a go…