The Scottish Council on Archives (SCA) is launching a new two-year project to support the development and accessibility of community archives in Scotland.
The project has been awarded support of £139,830 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Community Stories – Community Archives will support groups across Scotland who have amazing archival material but need help with managing, preserving, cataloguing and online accessibility. The project will also provide diversity and inclusivity training to help groups be as representative as possible of their wider communities. A key element of the project will be the facility to upload catalogues to a new portal being developed by SCA called Your Scottish Archives.
Through online and offline workshops, one-to-one training with professional archivists, and support from diversity experts, we will help groups enrich and improve their community archives, and raise their profile and accessibility through Your Scottish Archives.
Community Stories –Community Archives project addresses the reality that archives held by community groups are at risk without professional intervention and support. The project also recognises that Scotland’s history belongs to everyone. We want to help heritage groups be more inclusive in how they operate by asking them to think about how they can involve people from different and diverse backgrounds. The project builds on SCA’s recent and impressive track record in supporting community groups. The project will generate case studies and resources that will be published online for existing and future groups.
John Pelan, SCA Director said: “We are very excited to be able to launch this new project which will support community and heritage groups across Scotland. Community archives are full of rich and fascinating material which tells the stories of Scotland’s cities, towns and countryside. However, these archives are often vulnerable and difficult to access and enjoy. Community Stories-Community Archives will help groups manage, maintain and promote their archives, and allow them to have a stronger online presence through our new Your Scottish Archives portal. We are very grateful to the Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for supporting this project.”
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
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