2025 - November and December - page 7
Image details
| Issue number | 404 |
|---|---|
| ISSN | 2632-7171 |
| Publication date | 1st November 2025 |
| Transcription |
Opening Lines magazine Richard Aitken ACR paper conservator, training volunteers on basic cleaning methods of archival documents. One of several workshops from the current Collection Care Series, CAHG Scotland © SCA/CAHG Scotland volunteers delivered more than 121,000 days of service, valuing about £14.7 million in volunteer input. In one survey, 46% of organisations said they could not function without volunteers, while 40% reported rising numbers of participants. On a broader scale, the Scottish Household Survey 2024 indicates that nearly 48% of respondents engaged in some form of volunteering (formal or informal). Such figures reinforce that volunteering is both numerically and socially powerful. Partnerships and knowledge exchange are essential. I have enjoyed working with the ARA’s Preservation and Conservation group and I look forward to getting more involved with the Archives & Museums group. That group offers a meeting ground for record keepers, conservators and volunteers across institutions — a forum to share problems, exchange solutions and build best practices in object and archival care. Cross-disciplinary dialogue helps break down silos, fosters innovation and ensures that community archives can benefit from wider sectoral wisdom. Volunteering delivers rewards for all involved. For volunteers, there is learning, confidence, community and purpose. For archives, it brings capacity, fresh viewpoints, and deeper reach. As a colleague once said, for professionals: “working with volunteers challenges us to explain our decisions more clearly, to share knowledge, and to open up our practice”. Collaboration refines not just the archive, but the archivist too. Looking forward, CAHG Scotland’s next annual event will centre on intangible cultural heritage — a domain of rising importance now that the UK formally joined the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) in 2024. What does “intangible” include — songs, place names, languages, traditions, skills? My interest in this began when I spoke at the Shetland Heritage Conference. There I saw how oral traditions, crafts and memory can be as delicate and vital as any manuscript. Over time, I've encountered community historians, such as Comunn Eachdraidh Nis / Ness Historical Society, who support Gaelic collections and local storytelling that benefits national institutions. Increasingly, professionals learn from volunteers and discover that deep local insight can be as powerful as formal training. So I invite the sector to reflect: how can we ensure that professional expertise and volunteer passion work hand in hand? How do we build a culture of sharing, not silos, across Scotland’s archival landscape? And how do we safeguard both physical and digital archives beyond a single project or grant? As CAHG Scotland celebrates its five year anniversary, I believe more ardently than ever that volunteers and professionals together are pivotal to Scotland’s archival future. Their commitment sustains the present and shapes the path ahead. Without them, archives risk being overlooked. With them, they become living repositories that belong to us all. Audrey Wilson Partnership & Engagement Manager, Scottish Council on Archives; Board member, CAHG UK & Ireland; Lead of the CAHG Scotland Network; ARA Board member. 7 |