An oral history interview with a member of the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club. Image courtesy of the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club.
Oral history is one of the most powerful ways to preserve an organisation's heritage. Through recorded interviews, we can capture the personal experiences, memories and perspectives that are often missing from the written record. These first-hand accounts provide invaluable insights into the people, events and decisions that have shaped an organisation, while giving a voice to those whose stories might otherwise be forgotten.
At History Ink, we have extensive experience in recording, managing and interpreting oral histories for businesses, cultural organisations and community groups. Our work ranges from filming interviews to providing transcription services, volunteer training and practical guidance on ethics, copyright and consent. We also specialise in bringing these stories to wider audiences through exhibitions, films and other forms of heritage storytelling. Here we take a look at some of our recent oral history projects.
Bringing 200 years of history to life: Republic of Singapore Yacht Club
Recording an oral history interview with Peter Dunlop, the Club’s historian and author of the book The Three Burgees. Image courtesy of the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club.
In 2026, History Ink delivered an oral history programme for the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club (RSYC) as part of its landmark bicentenary celebrations. Founded in 1826, the RSYC is Singapore's oldest social club and Asia's oldest yacht club, with a remarkable history closely intertwined with the development of modern Singapore.
Dr Amelia Allsop interviews Peter Dunlop. Image courtesy of the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club.
We recorded interviews with long-standing members and former Commodores, capturing their memories of the Club, its changing identity and the personalities who shaped its history. These personal recollections provided a valuable complement to the Club's surviving archival records, offering a more intimate perspective on its evolution over two centuries. The interviews were incorporated into a short heritage film produced by History Ink, combining personal testimony with archival photographs and historical research. The film formed part of the Club's bicentenary celebrations on 7 February 2026, attended by President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Patron of the Club. The recorded interviews also helped inform the Club's new permanent Heritage Gallery, officially opened by the President.
An oral history interview with a member of the RSYC. Image courtesy of the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club.
Connecting people and place: Santander UK
We curated an interactive oral history display for the Santander UK Milton Keynes exhibition.
Oral history also played an important role in our exhibition for Santander UK, created to celebrate the opening of its new Unity Place headquarters in Milton Keynes. Working with our local history partner, the Living Archive Milton Keynes, we incorporated oral history recordings with local residents into an interactive touchscreen display. The interviews were recorded by the Living Archive and produced for exhibition use by History Ink, enabling visitors to explore the changing social history of Milton Keynes through the voices of those who experienced it first-hand.
Displayed alongside historical photographs, documents and film, these personal accounts helped connect Santander UK's story with the wider history of the city and its communities. The exhibition illustrates how oral history can add personal stories to corporate heritage displays, connecting institutional history with the experiences of everyday people.
Supporting community heritage
Hill Homes matrons in the 1950s, image courtesy of Hill Homes.
Our oral history expertise extends to helping organisations establish and manage their own interview programmes. For Hill Homes, a UK housing association with a history spanning more than 80 years, History Ink provided practical support for its oral history activities, including professional transcription services, consent forms and an oral history guidance kit. These resources helped establish a consistent approach to recording, documenting and preserving personal testimonies, with particular attention to good practice in interview preparation, informed consent and the long-term management of recordings.
By providing the necessary guidance and documentation, we helped Hill Homes develop the resources needed to capture and preserve personal stories as part of its wider heritage programme.
Training the next generation of oral historians
Megan Lee and Dr Amelia Allsop at a History Ink oral history training day.
An important part of our work involves sharing our expertise and empowering organisations to record their own histories. In Singapore, History Ink designed and delivered a bespoke oral history workshop for employee volunteers at a major corporation, supporting the development of an internal oral history programme. The training covered interview preparation, questioning techniques, recording equipment, ethical considerations, consent and post-interview procedures.
Our oral history workshop includes the golden rules of interviewing, transcription guidance, and more.
Participants also took part in practical interviewing exercises, experiencing both the challenges of conducting an interview and the experience of sharing their own memories. The programme equipped volunteers with the skills and confidence to record the experiences of their colleagues and preserve the organisation's institutional memory.
Two decades of oral history expertise
The Hong Kong Heritage Project Archive is now part of Hong Kong’s newest museum - CLP Pulse, which tells the story of the Kadoorie Family and its businesses. Image courtesy Hong Kong Heritage Project.
The CLP Pulse museum - which houses the Hong Kong Heritage Project Archive. Image courtesy Hong Kong Heritage Project.
Starting in 2007, Amelia previously worked for the Hong Kong Heritage Project, one of Hong Kong’s leading corporate and community archives, to record and preserve personal testimonies from across Hong Kong society. Amelia has conducted more than 300 filmed oral history interviews, contributing to the development of one of Hong Kong's largest audio-visual oral history repositories. These interviews have been used extensively in books, documentaries, films, exhibitions and public engagement programmes, demonstrating the value of oral history not only as a historical source but also as a powerful means of connecting people with the past.
An interactive oral history display at the CLP Pulse museum.
Amelia served as Co-Chair of the Hong Kong Oral History Group between 2012 and 2015, and was a founding member of the Archives and Oral History Special Interest Group of the UK's Oral History Society. She has also published on oral history practice, including an article in Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archive Professionals (2022).
