Walking Jewish History

Description of impact

Bangor's research on the history of Jewish migrants to north Wales significantly facilitates understanding on the part of the public, media, religious educators and policymakers of the challenges facing Jewish cultures and communities, thus impacting on civil society, cultural life and public discourse. Its presentation of Jewish cultural heritage helps to preserve and conserve it while increasing understanding of social and cultural identity and encouraging social inclusion. Facilitated by an ESRC IAA grant, and partnering with the social enterprise Menter Fachwen, Abrams developed a series of bilingual walking tours, a travelling exhibition, a map and mobile app entitled Walking Jewish History (http://blog.locly.com/?p=3772) which has helped to disseminate the results of the research to diverse audiences. Currently, the map is hosted on the J-Trails Anglo-Jewish Heritage Trail website (http://www.jtrails.org.uk/), which attracts, on average, 26,000 visitors per annum, from the UK, USA, Canada, English-speaking Commonwealth, as well as France and Germany and China. Held in the Deiniol Shopping Centre in Bangor, exhibition A Jewish History of Bangor reached an audience of approximately 1,000, encouraging members of the public to reflect on their own local histories. It attracted such visitors as Sian Gwenllian, AM, Jenny Rathbone, AM, and Hywel Williams MP. A copy of the map was sent to every Labour AM, MP and Councillor in Wales subsequently leading to an invitation to display the exhibition at the Senedd in Cardiff at the invitation of Jane Hutt, AM, Deputy Minister and Chief Whip. 2,545 visitors visited the Pierhead Building while the exhibition was there, including the First Minister, Mark Drakeford. As of September 2019, the app had been downloaded by 165 users in Europe (69%), USA/Canada (27%) and rest of the world (4%) showing the international reach of the project, which also attracted press coverage in Wales, the UK, and Israel. Further public engagement by Abrams (e.g. Menai Bridge Civil Society, Limmud, Merched Y Wawr, Four Nations History Festival) to audiences in Wales and England has enhanced awareness of the project. Overall, this section of the project has had the effect of raising awareness of Jewish history to people in north Wales and at the same time bringing Welsh history to Jewish people outside of Wales as part of a wider attempt to capture and preserve the disappearing history of Britain's high streets.

Impact status	Ongoing
Impact date	2019
Category of impact	Cultural
Impact level	Benefit