Safety in Numbers project launch at Bury Archives

Date published: 25 November 2008

Local secondary school children will be given a unique series of history lessons, which have been created using original archives from the former Prestwich Asylum.

The lesson packs have been put together by Bury Council, Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMW), Greater Manchester County Record Office (GMCRO) and Bury Church of England High School to enable pupils to explore issues surrounding the treatment of mental health.

Located on Bury New Road, Prestwich Asylum opened in 1851 and eventually became Prestwich Hospital, before closing in 1994. GMW is now based there and today provides specialist mental health and substance misuse services to the wider North West from the historic site. The Trust also provides local mental health services in Bolton, Salford and Trafford and is one of the largest NHS providers of alcohol and drugs services in the North West.

Youngsters will get an opportunity to use original archives from the hospital, which are currently held at GMCRO and visit the museum to participate in object handling workshops using artefacts from the hospital. They will be able to find out what constituted mental illness in Victorian England by viewing patient files, case books, diet sheets, photographs and staff records in the specially created resource pack.

To celebrate the new ‘Safety in Numbers’ education resource and hear about how the project has been developed and is being rolled out across schools in the borough, a launch event will be held between 09.30– 11.00am at Bury Museum & Archives, Moss St, Bury on Friday the 28th November.

Original artefacts from the old hospital will be on show and guests will be able to view original patient case books from the archive.

Councillor Yvonne Creswell, Executive Member for Community Relations and User Focus, said: “This project will really help bring history to life. The Prestwich Asylum is an important part of the borough’s cultural heritage and the information in this new resource will allow young people from across Bury to examine issues surrounding mental health in an unusual, thought provoking way. ”

Bev Humphrey, Chief Executive, Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said: “This education pack is an informative collection of documents, photographs and records, which will provide local school children with a fascinating insight into the history of our Prestwich site.

“GMW is working in partnership with the Bury Archives Service and Greater Manchester County Record Office to develop this project even further and provide site visits for schools to demonstrate the vast difference and improvements in care and treatments that takes place at the Prestwich site today.”