A COMMUNITY group is hoping to uncover a Renfrewshire town’s history with the help of its Buddies.
Gavin Divers launched Paisley Heritage in 2012, with the aim to promote Paisley's significant and proud history and culture. Originally named 'Paisley Mysteries,' the group quickly transformed into what is it today, with people from across the world sharing photographs, videos, stories and legends in the hopes of finding the town's forgotten history.
With the help of International Marketing masters students from the University of the West of Scotland, the team are keen to speak to those in the community, to collect and share their history and connection to Paisley - whether that is from working in the mills or getting married at the town’s Abbey.
“The aim of the Paisley’s People campaign is to create a location of our website, where the community can share stories via text video or audio and we will collate these stories and present them to the public,” Gavin told The Gazette.
“As time goes, all these stories could have the unfortunate potential of being lost in time.
“We have always been community spirited and what better way to document the history, by the people of the town themselves.
With a vast amount of factories based in Paisley throughout history, Gavin is particularly eager to hear from those who have experience of working there.
He said: “I had a great aunt, who was missing a finger on her right hand due to working in the mill in Paisley, and from a young age, I always found that terrifying - what were the working conditions like? Was working there a good experience? What was the management like? These are the kind of things we would like to know.
“We want to paint a picture, to make it as real as possible for the people of today to hear about, to be able to pass on this information to generations to come.
“We would encourage people to reach out to loved ones, and help them reminisce and document these stories - anything and everything relating to Paisley, we would love to hear from you.
“Paisley is a beautiful town and we want to celebrate it and its history, and what better way to do it than through its community.”
To get in touch with Paisley Heritage, click here.
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