What has the project achieved?
Andover: An Overspill Story was a 12-month community project created with the support of the British Film Institute, awarding funds from the National Lottery to help develop Wessex Film and Sound Archive (WFSA) collections. WFSA is part of Hampshire County Council’s Archive service. A further £250 was awarded by HAT towards the exhibition at the end of the project.
The focus of the project was on Andover’s ‘overspill’ development and originally called London ‘overspill’ estates because, despite being over 50 years old, this aspect of the town’s history was not well represented in screen heritage collections. These iconic estates are a key part of the history of Andover but have left a very small archival footprint. This project aimed to redress that by working with the community to capture memories of life on the estates from the past, present and on into the future. As a result of the project, a wealth of new accessions has helped fill this gap in the archive. It has also allowed WFSA make connections with the diverse communities present in Andover and ones which, without the creation of this project, they would not have been able to reach.
What has been done?
To round off the project and celebrate the new accessions that were collected, an exhibition will be on display in Andover Museum from Friday 14 March to Sunday 27 April 2025. Another set of exhibition panels was printed for Hampshire Record Office. These will be on display in the foyer of the Record Office from Wednesday 2 July to Wednesday 24 September 2025. The grant that was kindly awarded to WFSA by HAT has allowed it to print these panels.
Through curating this exhibition, a better awareness of screen heritage and an increased visibility to underrepresented groups in the collection, has been achieved. It has also brought new audiences to Andover Museum and provided greater access to the town’s overspill heritage.