On Saturday 25th November, Edinburgh University student and staff volunteers ran a successful digital archive event on Saturday as part of the University of Oxford’s Their Finest Hour project.  Over 100 members of the public came to the event, and volunteers recorded over 50 interviews and took thousands of photographs of items including a well-preserved leather flying jacket, original diaries from a soldier who spent time in a prisoner of war camp, and a hand embroidered scarf sent from a soldier based in Egypt to his mother. Watch the team’s appearance on STV news to learn more about the project.  

The event was led by student intern Eden Swimer, supported by Learning Technology Team Manager Lorna Campbell. Volunteers on the day were: Isidora Bethell, Fiona Buckland, Kathryn Burnett, Joel Casey, August Enger, Lesley Greer, Travis Greer, Craig Henderson, Fiona Hendrie, Melissa Highton, Eloise Jacob, Rhuna McCartney, Stuart Nicol, Zorah O’Doherty, Jasmine Patel, Paul Smyth, and Isabelle Woodhouse.  

Colleagues who supported in the run up to the event were: Geoff Fortescue (AV & cameras), Lizzy Garner-Foy (design), Ellen Groen (project management), Alan Hamilton (laptop set up), Fiona Hendrie (comms), Mayu Ishimoto (digital slideshows), Mark Mather (admin and catering).  

Thank you to all those that gave their time to make the event successful. Next up is the task of collating and uploading the data to the national archive!  

Image source: Fiona Hendrie, 25/11/2023