Project will create living history of Kingston camping trips from 70s, 80s and 90s

The principle keepers of the town's history at KHC are calling on Kingstonians who attended primary school summer camps to come forward and share their memories of summers from decades past.

KHC said they are looking for memories of every kind, whether simple recollections, photos or even physical relics from the camping trips which ran from the 1970s through the 1990s and saw primary school students visit green spaces in Hampshire, Yorkshire and Delft among other locations.

Once the KHC team have completed their collection, the memories will feature in an upcoming exhibition about the Kingston school summer camps at KHC itself.

Speaking to the Surrey Comet about the project, Heritage Services Officer Alex Beard said that the aim was to bring some living history back into the town's psyche.

"It's a living history project and a physical exhibition here at the Centre where people can come and visit. The featured memories will also be preserved in the borough archives for future generations of researchers to use," Mr Beard said.

"If anyone wants to share their memories, or has any photographs or memorabilia hidden away in their loft that would be great for the exhibition," he added.

The exhibition is expected to launch in July and run through September of this year.

While there is no official deadlines for submitting memories about the school summer camps, Mr Beard said that "the sooner the better" would be handy ahead of the opening in summer.

The idea was conceived by Brian Sullivan, a Kingstonian who had "very fond memories" of the camps that he and his family helped run from the 1970s onwards in partnership with several primary schools in the borough.

"Increasingly we're trying to create some living history at the centre and this will be a good example of that," Mr Beard said of the upcoming exhibition.

To submit your memories to the project, email KHC at local.history@kingston.gov.uk or phone 020 8547 6738.