Trumpeting the voluntary in the United Kingdom
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09565690410566756 |
| Published date | 01 December 2004 |
| Pages | 107-110 |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| Author | Carl Newton |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Opinion piece
Trumpeting the voluntary
in the United Kingdom
Carl Newton
The author
Carl Newton is a Consultant and Visiting Professor of Archives,
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Keywords
Archives, Voluntary organizations, United Kingdom
Abstract
Examines the archives held by the voluntary sector and the role
the sector could play in future provision for English archives in
general in light of the new fund from the Government enabling
the voluntary sector to expand its operations in the delivery of
public services. Concludes that a new methodology will be
needed and that it must be based on an inclusive and even-
handed approach to the workers in all the different sectors.
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When the Chancellor of the Exchequer no less has
just acknowledged the contribution made to the
national economy by the voluntary sector and a
new fund “Futurebuilders” is announced to enable
the voluntary sector to expand its operations in the
delivery of public services, we are forced to ask:
“What about the archives?”. There are two
important aspects to the question – the first
concerns the archives held by the voluntary sector
itself and the second what role could the sector
play in future provision for English archives in
general.
As to the first of these it is incontestable that the
archives held by voluntary and non-public bodies,
either their own or those for which they are trustee
guardians, constitute some of the most important
in the country, every bit as significant as those in
the National Archives or in the care of local
authority record offices. The recent report of the
Archives Task Force (2004) has reinforced, if
somewhat sotto voce, the message contained in the
Society of Archivists’ (2002) The Missing Link that
they should be recognised and supported by public
funding. The latter dealt with what is more strictly
speaking the non-public sector and included
business and chartered professional bodies, which
are not in my definition of the voluntary. In my
definition it means initially supported by
individual contribution on a voluntary basis rather
than by fees, tax or profit. Nevertheless it does
include organisations such as the National Trust,
the MCC, the Royal Geographical Society, and
major welfare or educational charities such as The
Children’s Society, the Red Cross, NSPCC, and
Wellcome, not to mention the collections
maintained by trustee managements at the
“shrines” of Grasmere, Haworth and Broadheath.
Interestingly these archives are often of national
and even international importance to a much
higher degree than those held by the average local
record office. In consequence it can be argued that
they are likely to be making a greater contribution,
in proportion, to the national economy by reason
of user visits than the latter, and arguably are of
more educational and social inclusiveness value to
boot. According to the Archives Task Forcerepor t
there are about 2,150 identifiable archive
repositories in the UK. Given that about 250 of
these are tax or commercially funded, this means
that 1,900 are in the voluntary/private
(non-commercial) sector.
Nor can it be assumed that the present position
with regard to the relative value of public national
and local archives and those of the private sector
(excluding the commercial world) will remain
constant for the future. As the regionalisation
agenda gets underway, and the increasing stress on
community gathers momentum, there will be a
Records Management Journal
Volume 14 · Number 3 · 2004 · pp.107-110
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565690410566756
107
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