The National Archives has updated its Records at Risk Grants programme and information and added details of past recent recipients. The scheme is delivered in collaboration with the British Records Association and the Business Archives Council, to provide support for urgent interventions to save significant physical and digital records facing immediate peril, across the UK. It provides grants of up to £5,000, to protect records of cultural and research value from premature destruction or prolonged neglect.
A case study of the Highland Archive Service which received a grant of £1100. It enabled HAS to conserve and digitise items identified at risk. The archive items identified as at risk were fifty-one glass plate negatives which were suffering from water damage, including mould and dampness, six hundred negatives (several of which were stuck together) and some tangled film reels including five 9.5 mm Baby Pathe scope reel c1920s. Having been left in a shed for an estimated ten-plus years, the mixed formats had been subject to extreme fluctuations of temperature and humidity and latterly water damage from a flood. The immediate threat was the risk of more deterioration in its current format and condition.
Recent recipients of grants with significant photographic content include:
- 2023: National Library of Scotland and Edinburgh’s iconic Filmhouse cinema collection;
- 2024: National Science and Media Museum – Billie Love Historical Picture Library
- 2025: BMT Media - to begin to digitise and store 1000s of artworks, photographic negatives, 16mm/8mm film, professional video tapes and amateur photographs in West Yorkshire to build its ‘archive of the ordinary’ – everyday life in Leeds & West Yorkshire.
See: Details of grants here and details of current and Past Projects here
Image: Highland Archive Service (HAS)
Comments