The Urchins went down to Redruth to visit the new Kresen Kernow archive centre last week. It went very well.
It is an amazing project and will be a great asset to Cornwall, have a look at their new website https://kresenkernow.org/.
We were very lucky to have the opportunity to have a tour around the building before it opens to the public. The group were briefed before hand, and went armed with copies of the DEEP audit. We had time at the end to sit and talk through what we had found, and feed back to the centre. The group did not hold back, and found a few things around the building that could be problematic for people with dementia, for example no signs to tell people how to exit the toilets, clear glass doors, no signage in the lift etc. It was highlighted by Kresen Kernow and agreed by the beneficiaries that working within the constraints of an historic shell can have some limitations regarding things like head height (one beneficiary thought a brick arch was too low to be used as part of a fire escape), lighting and flooring materials.
On a very positive note they welcomed our thoughts and opinions, and are creating signage for inside the lift so anyone using it can look where they want to go and know where they are in the building, exit signs for the toilets and decorative transfers for the glass doors.
Great news. Thanks to Sophie Hester and The Urchins for this report!
