Cheshire project aims to preserve stories of 20,000 women and girls
Residents are being invited to help create a new historical record of women’s and girls’ lives across Cheshire through handmade mini-magazines that could become part of the county’
By Nantwich News
People across Cheshire are being invited to help create a new historical record of the lives of women and girls living in the county today.
Cheshire Archives’ 20,000 Women Zine Project is collecting personal stories during 2026 in an effort to address an historic imbalance in the county’s archives, where women’s experiences have often been underrepresented.
Residents can participate by creating a zine — a small handmade magazine — about a woman or girl living in Cheshire.
That could be a relative, friend, neighbour or colleague, or participants can choose to tell their own story.
The zines can record everyday life as well as significant achievements, with contributors encouraged to explore interests, ambitions, memories and personal experiences.
They can include writing, drawings, interviews, poems, photographs, lists, collages, comics and other creative material.
No previous art or writing experience is required, and children, teenagers and adults can take part either independently or with friends, relatives and community groups.
Special Zine Making Stations are being provided with the materials needed to get started.
Artist Heather Wilson, who created the stations, said participants would find instructions, templates, coloured papers, stickers, letters and copyright-free images to help them produce an eight-page mini-zine.
In east Cheshire, stations are available at the Silk Museum in Macclesfield and libraries in Bollington, Disley, Macclesfield and Poynton.
Residents in other parts of the county can also participate.
Stations have been provided at Weaver Hall Museum in Northwich, Storyhouse in Chester and libraries in Ellesmere Port, Neston and Winsford.
The stations will move between different Cheshire venues during the remainder of the year, widening opportunities for communities to participate.
Packs can be completed at a station or taken home.
Finished zines, or copies of them, can then be returned through collection boxes provided at participating locations together with the relevant submission form.
The contributions will help create a many-voiced record of women’s and girls’ lives in Cheshire during 2026.
Material submitted to the project may also be accessioned into Cheshire Archives, allowing today’s everyday experiences to become part of the historical record available to future generations.
The project forms part of a wider creative engagement programme connected with Cheshire Archives.
Two new purpose-built archive centres are being developed in Chester and Crewe, providing new homes for collections documenting the history of the county.
The 20,000 Women project is intended to ensure that the archives being created today capture a wider range of experiences than many historical collections have done in the past.
Zine Making Stations will continue moving around Cheshire throughout the remainder of 2026.