Young Women Remember
Young Women Remember
Published on:
- Heritage
- Research report
In celebration of The Young Women’s Movement’s 100th birthday in 2024, a group of 14 young women embarked on a two-year co-research project tracing the history of the organisation: Young Women Remember.
The project provided a means for young women to collect, record and share the stories of support, connection and activism linked to YWCA Scotland before they are lost forever.
Following a co-designed, peer-research approach, young women peer researchers traced the long history of the movement and those women who participated in it through Oral History interviews and archival research. This project gave young women the opportunity
of becoming actively involved in the creation and preservation of the organisation’s history and heritage.
The Young Women’s Movement, previously known as YWCA Scotland, has a history which dates back to 1924. Since then, the Young Women’s Movement, as it is known today, has been providing safe spaces for young women and girls in Scotland, meeting them where they are in life and responding to their needs and ambitions.
The findings included in this report traces the changes that the YWCA has experienced over its 100 years history and the values that have remained a constant throughout; a commitment to young women’s wellbeing and gender equality. In collating the history of the organisation, this project has brought together the stories of the women who shaped the organisation in the past and in the present, making it possible for their contributions to be remembered and celebrated.
To preserve this history and make it accessible to young women and the general public, young women peer-researchers have curated written testimonies, video interviews, images and archival material into a ‘living’ Young Women Remember Digital Archive that documents the history of the organisation and will continue to grow with young women’s stories in the future.
Funding for the Young Women Remember research project was generously provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to preserve the history and heritage of the Young Women’s Movement for future generations.
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A note from The National Lottery Heritage Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
