The Heritage Buddy

Happy Volunteers Week 2025! It is volunteers week this week and can only mean one thing... a huge celebration of volunteering in lots of different sectors and celebrating the work of volunteers themselves. It is not just charities, children's services, care homes and animal rescue centres where people volunteer, it also includes museums, arts and culture. I first started volunteering as a poppy collector with the Royal British Legion which was a heartwarming experience and considering going back when the time comes as I have done some individual fundraising for them since. I am proud to share I have been involved with museums for 8 years which has been such an incredible journey. I'll start by sharing where it all began: my autism group set up a work experience project with the Museum of London in their archives and collections. The title itself is self explanatory; the Museum of London explores the history of London from the Roman settlements in Britain (whereby London was kno...

Today marks 85 years since the start of the Dunkirk evacuation! A group of restored ‘little ships’ escorted by the Royal Navy from Ramsgate have been reenacting the historic event by making the exact same journey. As well as having the Royal Navy involved with this rescue mission from the German advancement into France known as Operation Dynamo, ‘Little Ships’ were civilian vessels ranging from fishing trawlers to lifeboats to leisure yachts. Speaking of ‘little ships’, let me introduce you to a special someone: Meet Tamzine! She’s a little fishing boat built in Margate in 1937 and worked off the coast of Birchington that was involved in the Dunkirk evacuations. She was known as a local hero after being towed back from Dunkirk by a Belgian fishing boat and having a recognisable Viking-like stem, local boatmen took her back to her owner covered in blood, but luckily undamaged. Unfortunately for some ‘Little Ships’, some suffered shrapnel damage or were pierced by bullets. When I first s...

There is literally a lot for me to write about and writing continuous prose takes a lot of brain power that I lose at least two spoons (if you know the spoon theory and you fellow AuDHDers would understand how much energy it can take up). I will catch up eventually! On Tuesday 6th May 2025, me and a friend thought we’d spend the evening in Central London to see historic landmarks and bridges along the Thames light up red, white and blue for the 80th anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe Day). We arrived really early so we could take our time and not rush, starting with a slow stroll from Westminster and Lambeth down towards Tower Bridge via the Southbank to the Tower of London, thinking we’d get a good glimpse of the poppies. Making our way to the Tower of London, we stopped at the end of Hay’s Galleria for me to pose with HMS Belfast in my Agent Carter-inspired dress which is red, white and blue and considering the character played by Hayley Atwell in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...