SPOKEN HISTORIES is based  in Bath, UK, and conducts oral history and public history assignments in the South of England. It is led by Barbara Gibson who draws on a wealth of personal experience  and a team of highly competent professionals.

Barbara has been recording professional oral histories for over 20 years, based on her expertise with The British Library Sound Archive. A record of her earlier work can be viewed on The British Library Sound and Moving Image Catalogue and searching under her name Barbara Gibson. She has worked with high profile charities and government and non-governmental organisations and for many community projects and schools.  Her oral history work has been commissioned by museums and archives, for public history and school oral history projects and used in exhibitions.

SPOKEN HISTORIES projects are often financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Making history has become very popular and burgeoning numbers of the  public are keen to spend their leisure time engaged in public history and in conserving their heritage for the future. The Heritage Lottery Fund invests approximately £375million pounds a year on such projects and they are keen to fund oral history because it is a tool for making history and community engagement. If you are thinking of applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund for your history project, information about it can be found here. Barbara, a member of the Oral History Society, offers guidance and training in oral history interviewing technology, archiving and ethics to community and school projects, ensuring oral history is created to the industry standards set by the Oral History Society and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

She has gained a University of London Master of Arts (MA) in Public History. Her studies opened up her vision to the latest core ideas, debates and best practices in the field of public history and heritage. Her particular interest was transforming oral history into public history for example to use in radio, exhibitions, websites and in print. She also developed a unique Family Oral History course as one of her assignments, training adults to record family members as a lasting legacy for their children and grandchildren.

SPOKEN HISTORIES is committed to using best practice making oral history accessible to all.