From Trudy Foster
I AM happy to say that I work for Jersey Heritage and for the people of Jersey. In the past nine years I have introduced, encouraged and assisted thousands of people to rediscover their heritage and pride in their island.

This doesn’t just mean Jersey based Islanders: there are people all over the world who now feel a positive connection to the place where their ancestors lived.

Many of them come thousands of miles to visit that past, and Jersey Heritage helps them to rediscover not only the amazing depth of written history available at the Archive but also their physical past in the form of buildings like Hamptonne, the interpretation at the Jersey Museums and ultimately La Hougue Bie, where the first Islanders made their mark. Many of our overseas visitors have a strong maritime connection to the Island; often the reason their ancestors sailed to new lands in the first place.

We at Jersey Heritage help people discover a pride in their own past; making positive connections that last a lifetime. The ties that bind people to this Island are a living, breathing connection that cannot be broken while there are places that people can visit to discover for themselves the lives that Jersey people once led and while there are dedicated professional people, skilled enough to help them interpret what they find and to help them access and enjoy a heritage that is rightfully theirs.

How many of you know that a team of three people from Jersey Museum and Jersey Archive provide free Reminiscence Therapy sessions to every care home in the island that asks us to come? We work with the elderly to help them keep their memories alive.

We take objects from the Museum collection and photographs from the Archive; we play “guess the object”, which always provokes a stream of suggestions, some of them uncannily accurate, some a little off the mark, but it really doesn’t matter as it gets everyone thinking, even if they can’t quite express what they feel. Often, when we leave, the conversation is still going on about ‘Mr so and so’s’ shop, or who remembers this special event, or that tragedy.

A school child who enjoys visiting the museums or grows up with happy memories of Flash Days and visits to Hamptonne; an adopted person who has come thousands of miles to see a photograph of the mother or grandparents they never met, and tearfully discovers for the first time in their life that they actually resemble someone, or an elderly person in a care home who can’t talk but suddenly gets very animated at a photograph which triggers a hidden memory that is special just to them: aren’t they worth it?

All we are asking from the States is that you value us and the important work that we do. Please don’t put that in jeopardy. Support us and allow us to continue our work. We are a valuable asset, a repository of specialist skills and knowledge and one of the most positive advocates for promoting Jersey that you have.