The launch event with Professor Carenza Lewis will take place at the Collection Museum in Lincoln at 1pm on Sunday 19 May. There will be free arts and crafts activities for children, and a public lecture on Roman Britian by Professor Simon James.
A new initiative to boost and support the mental health of serving RAF personnel will launch this Sunday (19May) in Lincolnshire.
For the first time in the UK, archaeology will be used as a tool to help serving RAF personnel boost their wellbeing, mental health and bring families and communities together.
RAF families from across the country will join together for a two week ‘discovery’ dig, excavating a Roman farmstead alongside local residents with archaeologists from Lincolnshire County Council and the University of Lincoln.
Taking place at Riseholme, near Lincoln, this ground-breaking project aims to enhance social cohesion whilst giving families new skills and a chance to spend much needed quality time together.
Squadron Leader Suzy Watts from RAF Waddington, who has been instrumental in introducing the project in Lincolnshire, commented: “I took part in a dig with my son last year, and it was so good to spend some time together, learning new skills and more about the landscape we live in.
“For almost five years now I have worked away during the week and, as those who work in the military know, we don’t get to spend enough quality time together with our families. I really found this time useful to reconnect – both for me and for my son. I hope that this project will deliver real support for other members of the RAF family.”
Dr Adam Daubney, Archaeologist and Finds Liaison Officer at Lincolnshire County Council, commented: “I’m delighted to coordinate such a project – having had a number of serving RAF personnel join us at a recent excavation in the Lincolnshire wolds, we know first-hand the benefits they get from it.
“We really feel this excavation project will make a genuine and lasting contribution to the heritage of our area, encourage our RAF families to get outdoors, develop new skills and gather new knowledge and experience”.
Professor Carenza Lewis, former presenter of Time Team and Professor of Public Understanding of Research at the University of Lincoln, said: “Having involved thousands of people in archaeological excavations, and broadcast the results to millions more, I know that everyone gains so much. I am so pleased to be able to give people in Lincolnshire the chance to have a great time making important new discoveries about the past. The University of Lincoln’s Riseholme site is a remarkable place, so I am intrigued to see what we will find!”
The project is funded by the Ministry of Defence’s Armed Forces Covenant Fund in Lincolnshire, and being delivered in partnership with Network Archaeology.
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