Winners of video ‘face’ quest for Rasen heritage project

As featured in the Rasen Mail on May 12, the brief was to send in a portrait image for a heritage video being produced which focuses on real life Victorian children from the local workhouse and the Willingham lady who helped them, Louisa Boucherett.

The project is a collaboration between Rasen Community Partnership and The Wolds Women of Influence team.

Video creator Angela Montague said: “The Wolds Women of Influence team is just delighted at the entries received for the competition.

“All of them are charming, with children getting into the spirit of things and adding costumes and props to really capture the Lincolnshire workhouse children we want to represent.”

The winners were picked out of a hat to give five boys and five girls to match the list of real-life workhouse children featured in the video.

The winners are: Joe James (15), Millie South (10), Ethan Coulwill (9), Georgia Twigg (12), Drew Owen Wilson (10), Madeleine Allen (13), Harry Cook (15), Emily Porter (10), Peter Boryszczuk (12) and Rosa Robinson (9).

The photos the children have provided will be given a watercolour effect (using editing software) and will appear in the video alongside descriptions of the workhouse children they represent.

The part of Louisa Boucherett will be played by volunteer Gail Dennis of the Lindsey Rural Players, who will read through original letters and papers to tell the story in Louisa’s own words.

Angela said: “We cannot wait to finish editing the video and making full use of those faces, to tell the story of the children and Louisa Boucherett’s pioneering work of Boarding Out the children, which was a forerunner of the foster care system used worldwide today.

“Well done to everyone and many thanks for lending your faces to the children of the past!”

Each of the children will be fully credited at the end of the video, and, as a thank you, each will receive a 35x28cm (14x11 inch) poster print of their photograph with the watercolour effect, along with a sweet treat.

• The video is part of a wider project focusing on local history, adding to the existing Market Rasen Heritage Tour website as part of six new stories that focus on Wolds Women of Influence.

The existing tour website holds 14 stories about Market Rasen and can be explored at www.marketrasenheritagetour.co.uk along with the 14 plaques in place about the town that provide the companion walking tour..