Free-to-borrow audio box with ten stories and objects on life in Hastings, to be collected and returned at the museum reception.
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery has a Hastings Audio Reminiscence box available to borrow, and it's a bit different from your usual museum visit. Instead of you going to the exhibits, you take a piece of the museum home with you. It's a free-to-borrow audio box that you collect from the museum reception on a date you agree in a booking form, and then bring back by the date you've set for the loan.
Inside the box are ten stories, memories and objects, all centred on life in Hastings. The whole thing was put together by the museum in partnership with the Hastings and Ore Women's Institute and the Wonky Women's Institute, so it's built from personal memories and experiences of people who've lived and breathed the town. The stories aren't just for listening, either — the objects are there to go alongside them, giving you something to hold while you hear someone talk about their time here.
It's designed for children and adults to use together, and that's where the real point of it lies. The museum describes it as a way to help people connect with the town's local history, share their own memories and start conversations. If you've got older relatives who remember a different version of Hastings, or kids who've never heard about what the place was like a few generations back, it's a ready-made excuse to sit down and actually talk about it. You listen to a story, look at the object, and then see what it stirs up in your own family.
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It's all free, and you can find the museum at John's Place on Bohemia Road in Hastings. To get your hands on it, you just fill out a booking form to agree on when you'll pick it up and when you'll bring it back.
