Moving Here celebrates its first birthday

Moving Here celebrates its first birthday

29 July 2004

Eddie Silverman and Gerald Silver, long lost cousins living on opposite sides of the globe, found each other after 27 years via the award winning Moving Here website. Eddie, who grew up in London's East End, posted his childhood reminiscences on http://www.movinghere.org.uk/ , which traces 200 years of migration to England through personal stories of migration and images of Caribbean, Jewish, South Asian and Irish communities. When Gerald, a doctor from Queensland, found his cousin's entry he could not believe his luck.

Eddie's tale of the family taxi business and 1930s London life is just one of 400 personal accounts available to read on the Moving Here website. The site, which celebrates its first birthday on Friday 30 July, also holds over 200,000 fantastic historical images which can be viewed free of charge. Since its launch, Moving Here has had over 1 million visitors, many of whom have been inspired to add experiences and photographs of their own.

Gerald, who has now exchanged several letters with Eddie, said:

"How fortunate to have seen Eddie's entry on the Moving Here website. We have caught up with decades of lost time and as I have been trying to make up a family tree he has filled gaps in my memory."

Helen Wood, Project Manager, said:

"One year on, Moving Here has produced some fantastic success stories. Eddie's wonderful story of a childhood at the Mile End Gate, which you can view on the website, was given the perfect ending when his cousin Gerald found him after all this time. The website has been a great way for people from all over the world to get connected to old friends, family members and their own heritage."

Led by The National Archives in Kew, West London, 30 museums, libraries and archives contributed photographs, newspapers, documents, sound recordings and video to this unique resource for people to access free of charge.