The most recent Community Archives conference took place on 19th June 2025.

For the first time the Community Archives and Heritage Group (CAHG) held its annual conference in the north of England for the very first time, celebrating the power of communities to tell their own stories.

Presentations from across the North and beyond showcased how groups are bringing local heritage to life through their collections. A strong theme emerged: communities leading the way in preserving and sharing their traditions, while also building collaborative practices.

Alongside inspiring talks, delegates took part in skills workshops and explored a lively ‘marketplace and hub’ filled with stalls, displays, and networking opportunities and digital posters. These posters, which were an opportunity to showcase groups, will now be exhibited through Explore Your Archive.

If you missed the conference make sure to take a look at the conference highlights video.

Bolehill & Steeple Grange History Group

Bolehill and Steeple Grange sit at the head of the Ecclesbourne Valley in Derbyshire. Bolehill, once a self-contained mining village on the valley’s western slopes, contrasts with Steeple Grange, which grew up around the Wirksworth–Cromford road and the High Peak Railway.

The community has a strong sense of identity and are showcasing this through their History group.

CAHG Scotland

The aim of CAHG Scotland is to create a self-sustaining network of community archive groups within Scotland, committed to a vision and ethos of collaboration and mutual support. CAHG Scotland listens to and delivers outcomes for communities and heritage organisations based in Scotland, celebrating and highlighting its diversity. The network embraces sharing and providing knowledge, training and best practice whilst supporting and advocating on behalf of community archives and heritage groups.

North West Miners Heritage Association

North West Miners Heritage Association aims to keep the heritage of mining in St Helens alive through community engagement activities through learning, celebration and conservation. 

Sankey Canal Restoration Society

Founded in 1985, the Sankey Canal Restoration Society (SCRS) has worked tirelessly to safeguard the historic canal protecting its route, preserving its heritage, and championing its use as a vibrant environmental corridor from St Helens’ industrial heart to the River Mersey Estuary at Spike Island, Widnes.

Family History Federation

The Family History Federation represents the interests of its members and the wider family history community by giving family history a voice by working with a range of organisations. Its focus is on preserving, securing, and improving access to records, while encouraging member societies to build strong links with local archives and promote family history in their communities. 

Big Flame

Running from September 2024 to June 2025, the Big Flame project brought together eleven working-class young people aged 16–25 with a shared passion for political organising and heritage. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project centred on the WCML’s Big Flame archive through a series of fortnightly workshops. Participants explored who Big Flame were, the campaigns and networks they built, and what lessons today’s young organisers can draw from the past.

Scottish Community ​Archives Toolkit​

The Scottish Community Archives Toolkit has been developed by the Scottish Council (SCA). SCA supported community groups around Scotland who needed help starting or managing their local archive. 

This Toolkit is divided up into seven sections which can be dipped in and out of each section as needed.

Impact Heritage

Impact Heritage helps diverse communities protect their written, drawn, and printed heritage at risk of loss or damage. They provide the skills, knowledge, and resources needed to care for these treasures including guidance on accessing funding and support.

Preserving the local newspaper archive​

Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive is a research-led project designed to bolster the sustainability of records relating to the local newspaper. Based at the Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities at Coventry University, it is supported by a Resilience Grant from The National Archives.

Granton Hub Archive

Granton Hub Archive, housed in Madelvic House, North Edinburgh, captures the community’s journey from 20th-century heavy industry to the post-industrial landscape of the past 40 years, reflecting its social, political, and economic transformations.

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