Archive captures life experiences of those less heard

Archive captures life experiences of those less heard. "What a day! Woke up and I was in prison! No surprises there, but it always registers on first awakening." So wrote a 54-year-old inmate at Lewes Prison on 12 May, 2017. On the same day, a 90-year-old blind war veteran related how he was woken by Alexa (a smart home device) and had breakfast with his "lovely girlfriend", on whom he had used the chat-up line: "Will you make my Horlicks?" For a 51-year-old homeless man in Brighton, the day began with a walk along the seafront looking for cigarette ends, followed by a shower and breakfast at First Base (Brighton Housing Trust's day centre) and a browse in the library. These day diaries, currently on display at The Keep in Brighton, were produced as part of Beyond Boxes , a project that aims to capture the experiences of groups that have been underrepresented in the University of Sussex's Mass Observation Archive of ordinary lives. The two-year project, which began in September 2016 with the help of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, has so far involved more than 60 workshops and events with project partners Lewes Prison , Brighton Housing Trust and Blind Veterans UK. In addition to the diary entries, the exhibition, which is on until 31 May, also includes letters, drawings, pieces of creative writing and audio interviews. Project co-ordinator Anthony McCoubrey says: "It's been an amazing experience to work with all these groups.