About
See Me Nationwide
Every workplace has a wealth of people
They each have a story to tell
This project is a collaboration between Nationwide Building Society, Create Studios, Swindon Schools, funded by Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
It aims to enhance community connection, civic pride and highlight the positive contribution that diverse employees have made to a national organisation and major local employer.
Swindon has higher than national average diversity. ONS data from the last census evidenced 15.6% of the population is from other than white ethnic background. This is compared with the national average of 12.8%. Swindon is a resettlement centre for refugees, and is a member of the City of Sanctuary network, so themes of migration and enrichment are relevant to community cohesion and civic engagement. The partnership with Swindon Schools of Sanctuary enabled these themes to be explored in a series of workshops.
See Me Nationwide is inspired by the National Heritage Lottery Fund supported See Me Too project from 2019. This partnership with Nationwide aims to collect contemporary stories for their own archives, and share those stories with new audiences.
Create Studios
Capturing the heart of every story
Create Studios are a team of digital creators and storytellers based in the emerging Cultural Quarter of Swindon, making productions with purpose through Film, Photography and Animation.
Their mission is to capture the heart of every story; whether for an international commissioner or a heritage partner, every story and production is important and can create positive change.
The partnership in See Me Nationwide exemplifies Create’s professional production approaches integrated with their track record capturing and sharing social heritage themes. They seek to tell compelling stories with creativity and compassion, and this collaboration brings both to the fore.
As a Community Interest Company supported by Arts Council England, Create’s profits create change. Alongside their productions, they run an award-winning mentoring programme that gives young people a voice, independence and the confidence to break into the digital world.
Find out more about partnering with Create Studios.
Nationwide Building Society
A story of everyday people, helping everyday people
Nationwide Building Society has been headquartered in Swindon since 1992. It began in 1884 in South London when a small group of members of the Co-operative movement decided to set up a building society based on the same principles – the organization would be run for the benefit of its members and all profits shared with them. Since 1884, Nationwide has helped millions of people to buy homes of their own and provided a safe home for their savings. Nationwide remains a mutual organisation to this day. It is still owned by its members rather than shareholders, and profit is returned to them and reinvested in the business.
Nationwide has a pivotal relationship with Swindon. It opened an administrative and computer centre in the town in 1974 and since then it has gradually expanded its presences until it has become Swindon’s major employer, shaping the population as it attracts expertise from across the globe.
Nationwide has an extensive archive documenting its history from the nineteenth century to the present day. Like many business archives, the core of the collections are the statutory and financial records such as annual reports and minute books. However, alongside these formal records, the archives team are also capturing the human experience of working in a national financial services organization through programmes such as this oral history partnership with Create Studios.
If you would like to visit or view the Nationwide archives, please contact the Nationwide archives team at historical.archives@nationwide.co.uk
