Archive Lottery Advisory Service
Case Studies

A Place In The Sun

Organisation: The London Archive Users Forum

Grant Award: Your Heritage (£40,400)

A user-led project to index 30 volumes of Sun Fire Insurance Office policy registers dating from 1816-1824. A project team of up to 30 volunteers, supported by an archivist as project manager, was responsible for running and editing the project. Most volunteers had some background in historical research and using archives, but some were new to the subject. The index of 53,697 entries was made available via the Access to Archives (A2A) website.

Outcomes

The index is well-used, registering an average of 9,000 catalogue searches per month. About half the volunteers have continued working and the project has recieved further support from Awards for All and the National Council on Archives.

Christmas Exhibition catalogue, Richard Demarco Gallery, 1966. Courtesy of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

The 1984 'birthday cake' exhibition on the South Bank of the River Thames, celebrating 95 years of London Government by the London Country Council, and the Greater London Council. Courtesy of London Metropolitan Archives.

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