New guide to help history and heritage groups plan for the future

Local history and heritage groups are being invited to access a new guide to help secure the future of their volunteer organisation.

‘Succession Planning: A Guide for Community Archives and Heritage Groups’, is a free resource developed by the Irish Community Archive Network (iCAN) – a National Museum of Ireland initiative delivered in partnership with the Heritage Council, participating Local Authorities and community groups across Ireland.

The guide looks at ways volunteer groups can address some of the challenges that can influence their future success. Common challenges include attracting new members, getting young people involved; keeping adequate records; or losing access to accounts due to lost passwords or IT crashes.

Effective succession planning addresses these challenges so that groups can safeguard their work into the future.

iCAN was set-up to support volunteer groups across Ireland to develop and maintain their own community archive. It developed the Guide to provide a simple step-by-step process for good succession planning – from having written goals, objectives and operational procedures to protecting passwords and access to websites and social media accounts.

‘FORWARD-PLANNING’

The guide was officially launched on Thursday last, 25 July at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar.

Speaking at the launch, Lorna Elms, iCAN Development Officer, said: “iCAN works to empower local communities to document their own history, heritage and culture. This Succession Planning Guide is designed for community archives and heritage groups to ensure their work is future-proofed. It provides a structured approach to forward-planning which, if carried out on an annual basis, will help to ensure groups are maintained and continue to thrive.”

For further information and to download a free copy, visit www.ouririshheritage.org or www.museum.ie