Are you gathering oral or written memories from your community, or collecting and copying old photographs and documents about where you live? Perhaps you want to create a community website and encourage people to add to it?
We have been involved in supporting many local projects and can share our experience with you. You can also deposit or donate your project records to Gloucestershire Archives for safe-keeping. Our aim is to preserve archive collections permanently and make sure that they are accessible for future generations. Please Contact us for more details.
Planning a community archives heritage project
Before you start your project planning, you will be thinking about what you want to achieve and who your project is for. You may already have offers of help from your community, but what about other people or organisations with whom you could work? Are you going to manage the project yourself or do you need a team?
There are other things to bear in mind at this early stage. For example, if you want to create digital records and publish material online, you must make sure that you comply with copyright and data protection laws. It's much easier if you get it right at the start.
Why not meet up with the Gloucestershire Archives team? We can advise on partnerships and sources of funding, working with volunteers, creating and preserving digital project records, copyright and data protection issues, and much more.
Success stories
Project funding
Gloucestershire Archives offers a free initial session to groups in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire to discuss your project and advise on funding. Please get in touch with us if you are interested.
Your application for funding will be stronger if you have a clear project plan. You will need to work out how much your project is likely to cost, the amount you can contribute (in cash or in kind), and how much grant you need. Working in partnership with other groups and organisations is likely to bring you more success.
