Happy New Year – but what about the next three years?!

As we look forward to a new year, here at Gloucestershire Archives we’re looking ahead 3 years! We have recently agreed a programme of activities for 2021, 2022 and 2023. We don’t usually work so far ahead but, for a number of reasons, we had the opportunity to look three years ahead (as part of a wider ten year development plan we’ve been working on), and grasped it with both hands.

So, our 3-year plan is all about our outreach and collections development work. To be specific, it’s to do with partnerships, learning and outreach, with events and activities to appeal to young and old alike.  The public programme is designed to increase our audiences, deepen our relationships with existing audiences, plus, of course to develop our archives collections, particularly in under-represented areas. 

Starting in March 2021 right through until March 2024, we’ve allocated a broad “theme” to each month, which we’d like our activities and events to reflect. So we have themes for the next three years, some of which are repeated each year (such as the Local History Month, in May each year, or Black History Month, in October, and the Gloucester History Festival, every September).  We plan to schedule events on Wednesdays during the month.

As the next 10 year census is planned to take place on 21 March 2021 (pandemic permitting), we felt it appropriate to start our new public programme with this theme.  And even more significant for those of us interested in archives, the 1921 census is due to be released and published online next January 2022 (when its 100 closure period expires).  I wonder what fascinating stories it will tell us?

The themes in 2021 are as follows:

March	The Census
April	Schools, school log-books, childhood
May	Newspapers & Local History Month
June	Unheard Voices
July	Codrington of Dodington (South Gloucestershire)
August	Focus on Kingsholm
September	Gloucester History Festival
October	Black History Month
November	Celebrations
December	Celebrations

 All of these themes, and the activities and events tied in to them, will be publicised on our social media feeds. So, if there’s a subject you don’t know much about – or a theme you’d like to find out more about – why not join us at some of our events?

Sally Middleton – sally.middleton@Gloucestershire.gov.uk