Hidden Minds : New Mind in Harrow Project explores Shenley Asylum
Untold stories from inside the former Shenley Asylum will be told for the first time thanks to a £50,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for Mind in Harrow.
Shenley Asylum was opened in 1934 and finally closed in 1998. In the mid 1950s it housed some 2,300 patients before the use of institutionalised care for those suffering mental illness began to decline.
Our ‘Hidden Minds’ project will enable 30 volunteers, mainly mental health service users to delve behind the scenes at Shenley recording interviews with former patients and staff, their families and health professionals. The volunteers will also research mental health records including reports, documents and photographs to build up a picture of life inside Shenley during the time when people suffering mental health problems were shut away from the community.
The discoveries will be used to create an exhibition at Harrow Museum, World Mental Health Day and Harrow’s BAME festival Under One Sky, emphasising the ethnic minority experience of Shenley.
Mark Gillham, Chief Executive of Mind in Harrow, said: “We are delighted to receive our first grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund which will explore the myths and reality of life in Shenley and its heritage in Harrow today. Now is the time for this hidden history to be passed onto future generations, or we risk losing it forever.”