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PARCS Grows Everybody

The Portsmouth Abuse and Rape Crisis Service (PARCS) was a grassroots organisation founded by Diana Warren-Holland in 1981 in response to the incidences of rape and sexual violence taking place in and around the city of Portsmouth.

This project was made possible with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Resource: the History Safe toolkit

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In 2021, shortly before the start of this project, PARCS merged with a larger charity. This dynamic process of collecting and sharing oral histories has become a part of the change and moving-on process for PARCS.

At the heart of the project has been a Young Feminist Collective, who have played a key role in many aspects of the project. 

This project has been an opportunity to learn from the experiences of almost 40 former PARCS employees and volunteers — about how this work was carried out and why it was so important. 

People

Our funding


The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. PARCS Grows Everybody is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to realise this multi-faceted oral history project.

The PARCS Grows Everybody project was carried out in partnership with Portsmouth History Centre (Portsmouth Library and Archive Service)

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