A CHARITY that collects information and documents about the history of Ilminster is looking for a permanent place to store their items.

Ilminster History started out as a Facebook group for residents of Ilminster (past and present) to share stories and pictures of Ilminster in days gone by.

During the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 one of the founders of the Facebook group, Ben decided that a website that collects as much information about Ilminster’s history was a good idea.

Ben Jenner-Hurford was familiar with a similar site run by Bob Osborn for Yeovil (Yeovil History A-Z) and has tried to mimic the basic layout of the Yeovil site to make browsing easy.

Ben said: “Since we started the society, we have collected a number of documents and historic items and currently they are spread out across various cupboards and garages in our trustee's houses.

“It’s difficult to do a presentation because it’s all scattered around the place.

“One of our goals is to find a permanent place to meet and gather collections or documents.

“We are now looking for somewhere we can centrally store all of our items. We are looking for somewhere for free or for very cheap, we would require 24/7 access and the space would need to be lockable and only accessible by us.

“We are working with The Heritage of the Ile Trust (The organisation that collects historic photographs of Ilminster) to find a space we can share for storage.”

In the latter part of 2021, Ilminster History was registered as a charity and this allows the organisation to fundraise and apply for grants as well as ensure it will continue for years to come.

As well as research by the trustees the site accepts contributions in many forms from residents of Ilminster and new contributions are always very much welcome.

The Society aims to put on talks and exhibitions, and publishes a newsletter for members, we also record an oral history podcast interviewing people about days gone by in the town, which is available on most podcast platforms.

Membership to the society is free and anyone can join via the homepage of the website or by contacting the society.

The history society will have a stall at Ilminster's Party on the Park at the end of the month with some of our collection on display and for people to learn more about what we do we are also planning our next talk in October, with more information to come soon.

For more information email contact@ilminsterhistory.co.uk or contact 07873167371.

Website: www.ilminsterhistory.co.uk