Charities and voluntary organisations have been at the heart of almost every major social, cultural and political movement in Britain. The voluntary sector can be seen across almost all areas of life, and it plays an important role in shaping society. Charities and volunteers participate across a broad range of causes and impact the lives of thousands of people in Britain daily. Charities deliver life-saving services, campaign for social justice, keep our streets free from litter and bring joy to people, to highlight just a few.
The archives and records of charities and voluntary organisations are, therefore, essential historical sources without which our national history would be incomplete.
There has been a small but active movement of academics and practitioners in Britain advocating for improved standards of record-keeping in the voluntary sector since the 1990s. Campaigners have drawn attention to the wide range of record-keeping challenges charities and voluntary organisations face daily. They have shown how a lack of resources, increased demands on front-line services, limited archival literacy, and digital infrastructure might place records at risk.
Since then, there has been considerable progress in raising the profile and standards of record-keeping across the voluntary sector in England, and more broadly across the UK.
There are many different options available to preserve the archives of charities and voluntary organisations. Some organisations have opted to develop in-house services and manage professionally run archive services as part of their charitable activities. Others have founded subsidiary charities and trusts to manage their heritage collections. Finally, some have opted to deposit or donate their archives to a third-party service, whether this be a local authority, specialist or national repository, or those in higher education.
Regardless of which type of archive service is right for your organisation, archives and records are important resources for charities and voluntary organisations for a variety of reasons. These include:
- Demonstrating good governance by supporting transparency, trust and legislative compliance through record-keeping.
- Capturing institutional identity and ensuring that an organisation’s unique story and legacy are preserved for future generations through its archive.
- Improving services for beneficiaries, members and other service users through person-centred and trauma-informed approaches to record-keeping.