‘Small’ projects making a big difference to people’s lives

RECENTLY I’ve been hanging out with miniaturised people, and also some fictitious people.

No, I’ve not been drinking – more’s the pity. I’ve just come across a couple of interesting projects that captured my imagination.

The first is a little Cardiff University initiative to highlight the work of its academics and how it makes a tangible, positive impact on our lives.

Some of the university’s leading lights have been given “the model treatment” in a bid to encourage more people to learn about them and their world-leading research.

Six-inch, 3D printed models have been made of five members of staff, as well as Dylan the dragon the uni mascot (actually Dr Paul Goodwin in costume), and the Student Union President, Fadhila Al Dhahouri.

The idea is that seeing these little folks will inspire curiosity.

The project is the brainchild of a team of university staff selected to take part in this year’s Cardiff Futures programme.

It brings together people from different parts of the university and challenges them to come up with innovative ideas to support the university’s key strategic priorities, and one of these is community outreach.

A great example of research making and real impact on quality of life is Dr Maggie Woodhouse OBE.

Last year her Down’s Syndrome Vision Research Unit, the only one of its kind worldwide, won the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for pioneering research.

Children with Down’s syndrome are at much greater risk of eye and vision disorders.

Before the work of the unit began, this was very poorly understood.

Dr Woodhouse has designed eyesight tests to see how visual impairment affects a child’s education and daily life.

“Maggie and her colleagues have made an enormous difference to the lives of countless people with Down’s syndrome,” said Carole Boyes, head of the Down’s Syndrome Association.

The other “mini mes” are Mike George and Andrew Millington who also work in optometry, and Professor Jo Cable and Dr Sarah Perkins who work in biosciences, specifically on parasites.

Interestingly, Dr Sarah Perkins also big into roadkill.

Did you know that birds judge the speed limit of a road by judging the average speed of traffic?

We now know this because of her research. People who speed “may be more likely to cause wildlife roadkill” as a consequence, she says.

Dr Perkins runs Project Splatter (projectsplatter.co.uk), which aims to estimate the impact on wildlife of Britain’s 38 million motor vehicles.

It collects data on the location of UK wildlife roadkill as reported by members of the public.

There’s even a phone app that you can use to report roadkill to help with her research. I’ve already downloaded it. I have yet to see a squished squirrel but a part of me is almost hoping to see one soon just to use the app.

Talking of apps, last week we visited St Fagans National History Museum to is delve into an imagined past using current technology.

We were invited by Cardiff street gaming company yello brick to experience its app, Traces (or Olion – it’s bilingual, see).

When I mention St Fagans Museum to people they usually, and rightly, rave about it.

Many Cardiffians are extremely supportive and enthusiastic about the museum which is now in its 70th year and these days welcomes half a million people annually.

A thousand of them have so far tried Traces, which was created in partnership with the museum and Cardiff University.

Not your usual audio guide – there are no facts for a start – it marks a departure from what the museum has offered before.

Featuring evocative music composed by Jak Poore and the calm voice of Natalie Paisey whose warm Welsh lilt conveys writer Sara Lewis’ poetic script, the listener is taken on an enchanted wander through the castle grounds.

“Traces/Olion offers a unique opportunity for visitors to try something different, and maybe to feel something different, within the grounds of St Fagans,” said Dr Jenny Kidd, of the university’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.

“We are interested in the potential of such heritage encounters to seed new kinds of relationships between people and place.”

Traces totally passed me by when it was launched last year, so when I learned about it last week I was eager to try it straight away.

What a place. The wild flowers, the pumpkins, the walkways, statues and ponds...

Based on archive material from the museum’s collection, the audio story, split across three chapters, focuses on characters who might have lived and experienced the castle and grounds in the early 20th century. They include a war-scarred convalescing soldier and a ghost-like girl who shares the magic of her fervent imagination.

It’s a journey unlike any other you’re likely to take at a museum.

“We wanted to give people permission to explore the space in a way that perhaps they wouldn’t normally have, such as exploring the hidden spaces, touching the stones, to see things differently,” says Alison John, a producer at yello brick.

There’s a one-person and a twoperson version and the trail can be experienced at any time during the normal opening hours of the St Fagans site.

A tip: download the app (search: Traces Olion) before you visit because it’s very big indeed. Take your time, clear your schedule, and ensure you’re in a whimsical or receptive mood.

It’s also probably best if you don’t have a baby with you, as we did.

It should be noted that since this app was made, visitors now (or once again) wander through the redeveloped Grade II-listed main building to get “park side”, so you may need to ask at the Information how to reach the starting point for Traces.

New galleries open at St Fagans next month – a great excuse to return. Ciao for now, as they say in Llandow.

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