The daily lives of people with learning disabilities in Croydon have been through a lot of changes recently. Once, people with learning disabilities either attended one of three large Day Centres - Waylands on Purley Way, Heavers Farm on Selhurst Road or Cherry Orchard on St. James' Road - or Crosfield, the Sheltered Employment Workshop. Now many people take part in activities in smaller Resource Bases closer to where they live. Some go to South Norwood College, have a job or volunteer, others go to coffee mornings or get involved in other leisure or social activities.
The impetus for the closure of the Day Centres came from white paper Valuing People (2001) (pdf) which questioned whether large Day Centres were the best means of meeting people's needs.
Between August 2006 and August 2008 the Days Gone By project will working with people with learning difficulties, and staff who worked at the Day Centres to collect photographs and share memories about their experiences.
Work includes supporting people with learning difficulties to ask the questions themselves.
The project will ultimately generate an archive which will be held at the Local Studies Library in Croydon Clocktower as well producing a booklet, a curriculum pack and two exhibitions. The first exhibition will be held in May 2007 as part of the Clocktower's Learning Disability Arts Festival. The content of the exhibition is available online.
To find out more about research into the history of learning difficulties, visit the Social History of Learning Disability Research Group website.
John Donnelly scanning in photographs for the History of Day Centres archive
Brian Jones listens to his memories of sport at the May 2007 exhibition launch
Donovan Knight spots a sign for Heavers Farm Day Centre