11 July 2022
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Following a record number of entries, the Community Archives and Heritage Group has announced its 2022 winners in three categories.
The Community Archives and Heritage Group (CAHG) is part of the Archives and Records Association (UK and Ireland). Every year it gives awards to outstanding groups and projects to highlight and celebrate their work across the UK and Ireland. Awards are given in three categories:
- Community Engagement
- Gathering and Preserving Heritage
- Wellbeing
One entry is also chosen as the overall winner.
Alan Butler, Chair of the Community Archives and Heritage Group said: "We were thrilled to receive three times the amount of entries this year from last year and we believe this came about by altering the process into a two-stage one. In the first stage, we invited entrants to tell us why their group was special and, from those entries, we shortlisted and asked for more details. Lots of community archivists told us why they do what they do and it was inspirational".
48 entries were eventually whittled down to the three winners of the 2022 awards:
- Overall winner and Wellbeing Category: Workie Ticket Theatre CIC
- Gathering and Preserving Heritage: Scattery Island Heritage Group
- Community Engagement: The Liberties Weavers
Overall winner and wellbeing category champions Tyneside-based Workie Ticket Theatre CIC is a female-led theatre company producing work across the North-East which reflects current social issues. It aims to amplify unheard voices by creating projects to work with disadvantaged groups and use drama as a tool to engage the socially isolated whilst exploring issues that affect their lives such as domestic abuse, sexual violence and discrimination.
The Scattery Island Heritage Group won the gathering and preserving heritage award. They came into being in 2012 with a view to preserving, honouring and sharing the heritage of Scattery Island, a small island off the coast of Co Clare in Ireland. SIHG joined the Irish Community Archive Network in 2019 and working in partnership with them developed a digital archive: Scattery Island Heritage - Our Island Story. The archive tells the story of Scattery Island, from St. Senan’s monastic settlement, to the maritime, agricultural and musical traditions of the Island.
Community engagement winners The Liberties Weavers is a voluntary community group dedicated to breathing new life into the 1,000 years of history, weaving and textile production in the Liberties, in the centre of Dublin. Since they began their work in 2020 they have shred their research on the textiles that were produced in the Liberties, and in the lives of the people who made them.
An awards page will update with winners and video of the awards event after 18 July.