Women in Lockdown

Your local feminist archive needs you! How has your life changed since 22 March 2020?

Nearly two years on from the UK’s first national lockdown, we’re inviting women of all ages, races, and ethnicities, to share their experiences of life in Sheffield during the pandemic by participating in our Women in Lockdown project. As access to archives, museums and learning spaces continues to be restricted by the pandemic, we want to build a digital archive that captures, preserves and amplifies local women’s stories during these turbulent times.

We’re asking participants to create short audio recordings and/or written accounts documenting your lockdown experiences. Voice recordings can be captured on your smartphone or any other suitable device, and can be any duration (we recommend ~5-30 mins). If you live with, or are in a bubble with, another woman in your life, why not record your conversation using our discussion prompts? We also welcome written accounts (max. 5 pages; typed or PDF scans), photographs and creative expressions of life locked down in Sheffield. Your submission could explore: health & wellbeing; communication; politics; how your feminist engagement has changed; mutual aid & community; daily life in lockdown; and anything else you might want to record!

The video below shows you how to make a written or audio submission to the Women in Lockdown digital archive, including: the aims of the project, ideas for discussion, capturing your narrative, signing a recording agreement, and where your contribution will be stored.

Captions can be turned on via the Settings button (marked by the cog) on the bottom right of the video.

If you’d like further info, or to submit your contribution, please email us at sheffieldfeministarchive@gmail.com. If you’re emailing us a submission, we ask you to complete and include a consent form, which you can download here. We’re accepting submissions on a rolling basis. Our volunteers are always up for a chat, so please reach out with any questions!

Below, you’ll find a list of relevant documents including an information sheet and question prompts to get you started.

Recording agreement
Consent to your contribution being used by SFA

Interview summary sheet
Provide us with further details about yourself alongside your contribution

Information sheet
Answers any questions you might have about the project

Question prompts
To help you start your discussions, although feel free to use as a very broad guide!