The Volunteer
Using the Covid Pandemic lockdowns as an opportunity to start researching online, Kerry Forsythe and I created an online history hub for Paddington and surrounding inner-west Brisbane suburbs, using a digital format, rather than the traditonal history group format…
When Kerry discovered that her beloved suburb, Paddington, didn’t have a history group or anyone collating local history since the 1990s, she used social media to express her frustration. I picked up her message and agreed that such a team was imperative, and offered to join forces to start Paddington Then and Now.
We’ve since received and shared thousands of photos and stories on social media (Facebook, Instagram and YouTube) and continue to call for stories from locals past and present, interviewing, filming, recording and editing our findings to share with the greater community.
We run family history workshops, house history training and memoir mentor sessions at the Briswest Centre and present our suburb’s wonderful history at the Paddington Street Festival every year. We also mentor other community groups who are struggling with community engagement and social media management.
If you have any stories and photographs to share about your time in Paddington, Red Hill, Bardon, Rainworth, Milton or Petrie Terrace, please get in touch! We’d love to share them to a greater audience and add them to our digital collection. Otherwise, follow us on Socials or check out our website to enjoy other people’s stories!
If you’d like us to do a History Incursion at your school, please get in touch!