Harvington Hall
Harvington Hall (HH) is working with dedicated volunteers to catalogue its three archive collections and rehouse them in archival grade storage. HH consulted several archival specialists to develop plans for accessibility, training documents and a supportive training environment for their team of volunteers.
Nottinghamshire Archives
In 2024, Nottinghamshire Archives co-curated an ‘Escape from the Archives’ event in collaboration with their team of volunteers. The event expanded on a project backed by Heritage Open Days New Wave funding and Raleigh Cycles, where visitors were invited to solve the mysterious disappearance of Professor Raleigh and his iconic ‘Chopper’ bike in an escape room format.
Wolverhampton City Archives (WCA)
With funding from the National Archives Resilience grant, WCA has developed a training programme for staff in the wider Customer Engagement and Registrars Service. The project aims to upskill a wider pool of staff and enable greater resilience during times of busyness, vacancies, sickness and annual leave.
Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (JDHT)
In Autumn 2024, JDHT became the first British archive and motor manufacturer to make a deposit into the Arctic World Archive in Svalbard, contributing to their “world memory project”. Combining modern digital and trusted microfilm technology, JDHT preserved digital records for perpetuity in the arctic vault. This included build records, engineering drawings, owner’s literature and advertising material, but also photographs and videos of employees’ daily lives in the factory.
Churchill Archives Centre
The Churchill Archives Centre celebrated its 50th Anniversary with an online exhibition curated by students at Anglia Ruskin University. The Centre also launched an online Access Portal and ran a conference exploring the history and future of the archives, alongside current research projects. On social media, the ‘50 stories for 50 years’ series highlighted stories from researchers, staff and volunteers about their time at the archives.
Special Collections: University of Essex (UoE) in partnership with Chelmsford Museum
Chelmsford Museum and UoE co-curated Restless Brilliance: The Story of J.A. Baker and The Peregrine. This is the first exhibition to explore the life of writer John Alec (J.A.) Baker, his passionate connection to the Essex countryside and his profound impact on nature writing. Housed at UoE, the archive showcases more than 60 objects from Baker’s collection, including photographs, correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, and his birdwatching diaries.
Suffolk Archives
Suffolk Archives engaged over 6000 people (27% first time visitors and 26% born outside the UK) through their community engagement project, Arrivals: Celebrating Migration to Suffolk. The project team worked with Volunteering Matters and Suffolk Refugee Support to engage local refugees, people seeking asylum and community groups across Suffolk. This engagement included oral history interviews, workshops, volunteer opportunities, paid work placements, a co-curated exhibition, events and a community grants programme.