CLYDEBANK Town Hall hosted a civic reception for some of West Dunbartonshire’s most enthusiastic historians last week.

The West Dunbartonshire Women’s History Group had won the 2016 Women’s History Network’s Annual Community Project Prize for their research and study of the 1950s and 60s. But they hadn’t been able to attend the award ceremony to collect their £500 prize last year so the council decided to honour them instead.

Their Women Making History project involved workshops and events to preserve and celebrate women’s social experiences during the post-war era. It included two so-called memory boxes, which are in popular demand across West Dunbartonshire to teach about the past.

Judges at the Women’s History Network praised the project’s outstanding results on a small budget. The judges added: “There was a real sense of how the group was involved on a journey, developing historical research skills and knowledge along the way. We were also impressed by the support and link with the Glasgow Women’s Library and plans for future research.”

Provost McAllister said: “It was fantastic to officially recognise the achievements of West Dunbartonshire Women’s History Group with a civic reception and I would like to thank everyone who came along and took part in the celebrations.

“Winning the Women’s History Network’s Community Project Prize was very well deserved and shows just how much of an impact the group’s work has had, not just locally but on a national scale too. I wish the group all the very best in the future and I look forward to seeing the results of the upcoming research.”

The group started in 2009 with the help of the Glasgow Women’s Library. Their national lifelong learning coordinator, Morag Smith, accepted the cheque on behalf of the history group and praised their work.

She said: “It was a real pleasure to work with them over the last few years. They are incredibly open to learning. To say it’s been a success is a huge understatement.”

Jackie Baillie MSP, who attended the ceremony, said: “I got to know the group when they did the memory boxes. Here was living history that brought this whole period to life. It’s something that has impact across generations and we need more like it.”

MP Martin Docherty-Hughes added: “The group has captured the tremendous value and worth of women of West Dunbartonshire. It’s been a great joint working with the Women’s Library and Their continued strength will allow more women to share their histories in their lives and how it shaped communities in the length and breadth of West Dunbartonshire.”

A copy of a report on the group’s Women Making History in West Dunbartonshire project can be downloaded at http://womenslibrary.org.uk/gwl_wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/GWL-Women-Making-History-in-West-Dunbartonshire.pdf.