As part of the ‘Archiving the Mixed Economy of Welfare in Britain’ project we organise knowledge exchange events and speak at other seminars and conferences. Details of forthcoming events will be posted here. You can join our JISC mail to be informed of future events.
Past Events
The project has given a number of presentations and organised several events, listed here in reverse chronological order.
March 2023 Paul Beard and Georgina Brewis present on the project at the History and Archives in Practice (HAP2023) event. History and Archives in Practice (HAP2023) | Institute of Historical Research
July 2022, ‘Charity Archives: Recent interventions and initiatives in a neglected archives sector’, Panel at the Voluntary Action History Society Conference.
February 2022, ‘Material Culture as a Methodology for the History of Philanthropy’, Panel at the American Historical Association Online Conference, February 2022.
December 2021, ‘Co-curation and archival interventions: Reflections from an interdisciplinary project using voluntary sector records’, Voluntary Action History Seminar, Institute of Historical Research.
September 2021 ‘Voluntary action, the state and welfare’, Greater Manchester Council for Voluntary Organisations Academic Perspectives Lecture.
June 2021 Panel ‘Charity Retail in Modern Britain and Ireland: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Reflections’, Welfare and Humanitarianism Strand, Social History Society annual conference.
March 2021, ‘Curating Philanthropy: The material culture of giving in America’, with Dr Amanda Moniz (David M. Rubenstein Curator of Philanthropy at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of America History) and Rhodri Davies (Head of Policy at Charities Aid Foundation)
November 2020 ‘Archives of Philanthropy: Opportunities and Challenges’, Launch of the UK Philanthropy Archive. You can see Georgina’s presentation here and read about the full event and discussion here: UK Philanthropy Archive Events – Special Collections & Archives
November 2020, Shopping for a cause: A virtual tour of the history of charity shops, by Georgina Brewis and George Gosling, introduced by Lauren Bravo
26 June 2020, ‘Charity archives in a time of Crisis’, Georgina Brewis spoke as part of a panel at the Social History Society online summer conference. See the write up of the talk here.
20 June 2020 ‘My research in three minutes: What can we learn from the history of charities in Britain?’ Georgina Brewis appears in this a short film as part of the British Academy Summer Showcase.
9 June 2020, ‘Recording a Crisis‘, History Acts Online Seminar – Charlotte Clements joined a panel of historians and archivists consider what needs to be done.
20 November 2019, ‘The archives and records of humanitarian organisations: Challenges and Opportunities’, Bodleian Library, Oxford. This was a partnership with Dr Rosie Cresswell (Hull University) in connection with a Wellcome Trust Research Bursary. Read the Oxfam archivist’s blog post about this.
15 October 2019, ‘HMC 150: Understanding and Mitigating Archival Risks’, The National Archives.
6 March 2019, ‘Voluntary organisations, archives and records: Why do they matter?’, British Academy, 6 March 2019.
14 November 2018, Charity and Voluntary Organisation Archives: Making your archives work for you’, workshop with Leonard Cheshire Disability Archive and the University of Loughborough, held at Netherseal, Derbyshire.
29 October 2018, Meg Venter, The past, present and future of charity archives, VAHS Seminar, IHR.
11 June 2018, Charlotte Clements talk ‘Social Action and Social Justice through the Archives of UK Voluntary Organisations’, Social History Society Conference, University of Keele.
17 September 2018, ‘Records of charities and voluntary organisations: How to care for, or deposit, your archives and records’, workshop with Mass Observation Archive and the ESRC Discourses of Voluntary Action project at The Keep, Sussex.
6 December 2017, Georgina Brewis, Charlotte Clements and Rob Baker, ‘Do not shred!’ Challenges and triumphs of working with voluntary sector archives, IHR Archives and Society seminar.
Association of Charity Independent Examiners (ACIE) Annual Conference, 23rd June 2017. Presentation by our partners, Charity Finance Group on the new toolkit with copies handed out to attendees.
Toolkit Launch: Improving Records Management in Charities, 15 June 2017, British Academy. Our new toolkit, produced in partnership with Charity Finance Group and funded by a UCL Public Policy grant was launched in June 2017. Bruno Longmore (National Records Scotland) gave a keynote address and the audience was able to ask questions of an expert panel comprised of: Rob Baker (Blind Veterans), Martine King (Barnardos), Anjelica Finnegan (Charity Finance Group), Janet Foster (British Records Association) and Ian Wakeling (Children’s Society).
Records Management for Charities Workshop, Charity Finance Group Summer Conference, 18 May 2017. Presented on the development of our new toolkit.
Charity Finance Group London Members Meeting, 20th April 2017. Presented on the development of our new toolkit.
‘Do not shred!’ Challenges and triumphs of working with voluntary sector archives – IHR Archives and Society Seminar, 6 December 2016, a presentation by Georgina Brewis, Charlotte Clements and Rob Baker (Blind Veterans UK).
Workshop at Voluntary Action History Society Conference, 13 July 2016, University of Liverpool – Presentation of our draft guidance and discussion with Georgina Brewis, Charlotte Clements, Pat Starkey (University of Liverpool), Lindsey Metcalf (Interchange) and Rob Baker (Blind Veterans UK).
‘Archives into the Future’, British Library, 29 February 2016. Charlotte Clements presented as part of a series funded under the auspices of the Arts and Humanities Research Council ‘Care for the Future: Thinking Forward Through the Past’.
Recording the Voluntary Sector, 5 June 2015 – This half-day event formally launched the project. Aimed at representatives of voluntary organisations, it offered information and guidance on preserving and using archives through a mix of expert input and workshop sessions. Speakers included: Professor Pat Thane, Philip Gale (TNA), Jo Hobbs (Girlguiding UK), Jo Reilly (HLF), Sue Hampson (Community Archives and Heritage Group), Rob Baker (Blind Veterans UK), Matthew McMurray (Royal Voluntary Service), Becky Webster (UCL), Sarah Mills (Loughborough University) and Rossitza Atanassova (The British Library).
Under threat? Charity Archives in the 21st Century, 22 May 2014 – Matthew McMurray, archivist at Royal Voluntary Service, and author of a report on Charity Archives in the 21st Century, talked at UCL Institute of Education about his research. With ever growing pressure on Trustees to deliver their charity’s purpose in the most cost effective manner the archives of these organisations are in many cases marginalised, poorly resourced and even under the threat of disposal and destruction.
Launch of Campaign for Voluntary Sector Archives, House of Lords, 15 October 2012 – Tristram Hunt, historian and MP, helped launch the Campaign for Voluntary Sector Archives to an audience of charity chief executives, archivists and historians at the House of Lords on the 15th October 2012.