Two initiatives within the VSS-PULSE Partnership are supporting truth recovery through diverse approaches.
VSS-PULSE (Partnership for Understanding, Learning, Support and Education), is a £21.7m project supported by the PEACEPLUS Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
The Partnership’s objective is to improve the health and wellbeing of victims and survivors by increasing and improving access to high quality services across NI, GB and RoI.
Ulster Human Rights Watch and Paper Trail are two of the Project Partners, and both are working on individual projects to support truth recovery for victims and survivors as well as preserving and strengthening public records for the future.
Axel Schmidt, Advocacy Support Manager, Ulster Human Rights Watch:
“A key element of Ulster Human Rights Watch’s work focuses on recording and preserving personal testimonies through the ‘Legacy of the Past Record – Ulster Human Rights Watch UHRW’, dedicated to victims of terrorism. The Record ensures that lived experiences of survivors and relatives who lost family members are formally verified, documented and safeguarded within the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) ‘Legacy of the Past Record | The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland’. This approach recognises the value of personal narratives in deepening public understanding of the impact of the Troubles on individuals, families and communities.”
Ciarán MacAirt, Manager, Paper Trail:
“Paper Trail’s mission is to discover and collate historic, Troubles/conflict-related information located in archives, such as the National Archives in London, in order to identify and interpret official documentation relating to specific incidents. This work, involving the analysis of thousands of pages of files, supports victims and their families discover new information relating to the terrible incidents that impacted their lives.”
Although these projects differ in their methodologies and emerge from distinct perspectives, they share a unifying purpose:
To document and preserve accounts of the past, in ways that support victims, enable access to information, and contribute to a comprehensive public record for future generations.
VSS remains committed to supporting initiatives that approach this work with sensitivity and professionalism. By enabling projects that draw on both personal testimony and archival evidence, we help strengthen the foundations for a more informed and inclusive understanding of our shared history.