Did you or someone you know work at the Parker Pen factory in Newhaven?

Before the factory’s closure in 2009, and demolition in 2014, 1,200 people worked at the site. Press Play Films are working with ex employees, the Newhaven Museum and local schools on an oral history and animation project about the old factory.

Founder Lara Leslie would like to hear more about what factory life was like and to speak to ex-factory employees.

The project is encouraging ex-employees, or people who knew ex-employees, to speak about their memories of the factory, of Newhaven at the time and how the town has changed.

Newhaven schools will also be involved in the animation of the project, and they are currently hoping to secure funding to be able to include portrait photography of ex-employees in the project.

Press Play Films are also working with Newhaven Museum on the project, who will be handed the oral history recordings after completion.

Once the project has been completed, it will be exhibited at the Hillcrest Community Centre, Bay Vue Road, Newhaven. Photographs, oral histories and animations will be brought together to tell a story of the role of the factory in the life of Newhaven town.

Participants will also be invited to a tea party at the Hillcrest centre after the project.

If you would like to participate, contact Lara before Friday, February 23. Email [email protected] or call Lara on 07398763653.

Press Play Films is a registered Community Interest Company founded in 2016 by Lara Leslie, an artist, videographer and animator. They are based in East Sussex and work with children, teens and families in schools, special schools, art galleries, museums, libraries, at festivals and in community settings; making animation production accessible to all.

They also facilitate research and well-being workshops in the community. Their aims are to use creativity in film and animation therapeutically to explore and answer important questions. They have extensive experience working with a range of SEND including autism, dyslexia, ADHD and ODD.

Their previous work includes Moving Minds, which involved working with the Department of Psychology at the University of Sussex and the Centre for Cultural Value on ground-breaking research into autism and animation production.