Our Sporting Life

Our Sporting Life is an exciting new exhibition project focusing on the heritage of sport in Dorset. It will enable communities in Dorset to connect with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games locally, nationally and internationally through inspirational personal stories and unique objects. The exhibition runs from 30 June to 13 October 2012.

The project is being led by Dorset County Museum and Poole Museum and is primarily funded by a £33,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund through a Your Heritage grant. Further funding has been provided by Dorset County Council Museums Service through the Small Museums Grant together with contributions from Dorset County Museum and Poole Museum. In total 14 museums across Dorset will be taking part in this inclusive community project.

Dorset has a thriving sports community playing at all levels and has strong traditions of participation and spectating. The project will reflect not only the historic sporting superstars of the county but also the unsung heroes of its sporting community – from the groundsman to those who wash the kit. The exhibition will celebrate local heroes and forgotten sporting legends and is part of the build towards the greatest ever exhibition of British sporting history to be held in London for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The project will culminate in major exhibitions at Dorset County Museum and Poole Museum running from 30 June to 13 October 2012 and a series of smaller exhibitions at museums across the county from Easter 2012. These exhibitions will celebrate sporting achievements in Dorset and show how sport has helped to shape the county and its communities. People will be able to showcase the objects that tell the stories of their sporting lives and interpret the history of sport in their community.

Project officers have already started collecting stories and will be approaching a number of sporting clubs, societies and organisations across Dorset to discover the full range of sporting achievements in the county.