Category: Events

  • Maurice Bond Lecture 2026 Announced

    Maurice Bond Lecture 2026 Announced

    The annual Maurice Bond Memorial Lecture and Janette Harley Memorial Prize presentation will be held on Thursday 7th May at Guildhall Library, London, EC2V 5AF (6.00-9.00pm) on “Sustainability and Resilience – the Future of Preventive Conservation”

    This year’s lecture will be given by Juergen Vervoorst FIIC ACR, Head of Collection Care at The National Archives.

    Standards for the management and preservation of archival and library collections have been available and adhered to by many institutions for a considerable length of time. Following such standards is critical to attain accredited status, and they often provide evidence to senior decision makers to release funding for improvements to collection conditions. On the other hand, increasing energy costs, carbon net zero and broader sustainability targets, and the need to prepare for climate change induced risks put unprecedented pressures on collection managers, the solution of which often seem contrary to the long-term preservation of archival and library collections. Whilst preservation standards have already relaxed, the complexity to fully exploit the flexibility provided and the lack of resource often makes it difficult to make the right decision for collections. This lecture will explore some of the challenges and pressures collection managers are under and will provide an outlook onto what the future of preventive conservation might hold.

    We will also be presenting the Janette Harley Prize 2025, which has been awarded to Frank Meeres (editor), for Socialism in King’s Lynn and Suffragism in Great Yarmouth: Minutes of the King’s Lynn Socialist and Labour Societies, 1897-1916, and Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Great Yarmouth Women’s Suffrage Society, 1909-1915 (Norfolk Record Society vol. LXXXVIII, 2024).

    The lecture and presentation will be followed by a drinks reception

    Directions: The entrance on Aldermanbury is marked the London Centre and Guildhall Library. Venue is accessible with lifts.

    Book your ticket on Eventbrite.

  • Apply for a free place to our 2025 conference

    The British Records Association (BRA) annual conference ‘Safeguarding Future History: Meeting the Challenge of Records at Risk’ will be held in London on 4th November 2025.

    We are offering a free place to an early career archivist, librarian, historian, or related heritage worker, for the best submission on the benefits of attending the conference. This could cover, for instance, why you are interested in attending, why the particular subject of the conference is important to you, and how the event might contribute to your professional development.

    Submissions of a maximum of 500 words should be emailed to the Hon Secretary  by midnight on 19th October and the decision will be made no later than 24th October. The successful applicant will be asked to write a short conference review for the BRA’s website and e-bulletin and promote the conference on social media during the day.

    The free place will cover the registration fee (including lunch, morning and afternoon refreshments) and reasonable travel expenses.

    The full programme can be found on our Eventbrite booking page.

  • Get your tickets for the 2025 BRA Conference

    Join us as we examine past, present and future risk to UK archives and discuss preservation strategies for the 21st century with this year’s conference ‘Safeguarding Future History: Meeting the Challenge of Records at Risk’.

    The conference will take place on Tuesday, November 4 · 10am – 4:30pm GMT at The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street London EC1M 6EL.

    Book tickets on Eventbrite.

    The British Records Association has had records preservation at its core since its establishment in 1932, and this year our annual conference will focus on Records at Risk. What does risk look like for archives in the 21st century? What practical measures can we take to ensure the continued preservation of records in a context of financial pressure and fast-moving technological change? How can funders and our wider communities help?

    Our programme includes insights from academics, funders, and representatives from The National Archives and British Council. There will be practical advice to take away from recent projects to save significant collections of records at risk, and an opportunity for informal conversation with funders over tea and coffee.

    PROGRAMME:

    9.45 Registration and morning refreshments

    10.10 Welcome from the BRA

    10.15 Victoria Northwood, BRA Vice-Chair: ‘A Great National Task’the origins of records preservation

    10.25 Georgina Brewis, Professor of Social History, University College London: Why records matter to historians and how we can help preserve collections

    11.00 Philip Gale, Head of the Collections and Cultural Property Team, Archives Sector Leadership, The National Archives: Pandemic Lessons: Evolving Anatomy and Mitigation of Archival Risks

    Panel Session: Finding Solutions for Records at Risk (chaired by Philip Gale)

    11.45 Richard Wiltshire, Trustee, Business Archives Council and Gillian Staples, Archives & Collections Lead, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster: The Crisis Management Team in Action: Saving the Debenhams Archives for the Nation

    12.10 Tim Brunsden, Independent Filmmaker, on behalf of the Re-Dock artist collective: Saving Homotopia’s video archive

    12.30 Dr Zoe Hendon, Design Historian, Curator and Lecturer, previously Head of Collections at the Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture and Jackie Bishop, Project Archivist (Penguin Random House) University of Reading: What happens when the archive closes? Rehoming the Charles Hasler collection

    13.00 Lunch and British Records Association AGM

    14.15 Stephanie Grant, Director, Cultural Protection Fund, The British Council: International Perspective: the work of the Cultural Protection Fund

    Panel Session: Meet the Funders (chaired by Victoria Northwood)

    14.50 James Hodgson, Head of Archive Sector Funding, The National Archives

    15.05 Nell Hoare, Secretary, Friends of the Nations’ Libraries and The National Manuscripts Conservation Trust

    15.25 Leanne Manfredi, V&A National Programmes Lead (Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund)

    15.50 Afternoon refreshments and opportunity to network

    16.30 Conference closes

    Conference fees include full catering for the day

    For accessibility requirements please email: secretary@britishrecordsassociation.org.uk

    We look forward to seeing you in November!