You can picture the scene – two men standing on a street corner discussing the affairs of the world. One says to the other ‘I was born under the monarchy, I spent my childhood in Czechoslovakia, I began my family in Hungary, and now I live in the Soviet Union’. ‘Well’, said the other man, ‘you must have travelled a great deal’. ‘Oh, no,’ came the reply, ‘I’ve never left the town where I was born’.
The scenario seems quite dated now and clearly reflects a time of significant change when boundaries moved, rather than people. Was it ever thus – the world around us is always in a state of flux and change is an ever-present condition; you could say it is a constant variable, if that is not a contradiction. We are on a relentless journey – we arrive at a destination but never dwell as the next destination of change beckons us ever onwards. There have been tremendous social upheavals and amazing advancements in the sciences and technology. Our capability and capacity to do, good and bad, seems to have grown exponentially.
Meanwhile, by the riverbank we can reflect on the considerable extent of change that has taken place in the world, for better or worse, since the Friends was founded in 1988. Next year marks our thirtieth anniversary and within our micro world of the archives much has changed in that time too. Not just physically from central London to Kew, but through various changes of name, increasing voluntary activity and also a growing membership. In 2013 we made a step-change with a more proactive approach to recruiting members and by 2014 we had reached the one thousand-milestone as I reflected in my blog at the time.
Change has also exerted itself on The National Archives in numerous ways: legislatively, administratively, through advancements in technology, digital in particular, and in other practical ways. Through their project Archives Inspire The National Archives is seeking to reposition itself by extending its services to wider audiences beyond London and the south-east to the regions. There will also be significant changes to the building at Kew and a drive to attract more visitors.
These are interesting times and we face significant challenges on three fronts: how we adapt our governance to take account of our own changing needs, and how we look after and manage a growing membership. We also have to consider what is required to consolidate our role and remain an effective support charity as the nature of The National Archives evolves over the next four or five years.
The introduction of the membership area is just one small step to help consolidate who and what we are as an organisation. It is important to give members the sense that they are part of something that is dynamic and effective. The website enables us to reach out to members, and a wider audience, more effectively and keep everyone better informed. The membership is geographically widespread and although the majority are in London and south-east, the website helps to diminish the detrimental influence of distance.
We will be adding various content to the membership area in due course. There will be blogs from myself and colleagues about the activities of the Friends, in addition to access for the magazine, newsletter and a forum to share and seek views and information about our archive related interests and research. Having a strong, consolidated and well connected membership is a key part of ‘who we are and what we do’ thereby enabling us to make progress and develop our support for The National Archives as it goes through a series of significant changes itself.
We are becalmed in the middle of this maelstrom of change as the Archives’ best Friend. The world is changing around us as we stand on our ‘street corner’. Boundaries of various kinds – working practices, public engagement and the like will shift and our task is to anticipate, adapt and meet the challenges as they present themselves. For an organisation managed solely on a voluntary basis I expect there will be doubts and challenging moments from time-to-time but, to borrow a phrase from a bygone political era, I am convinced that ‘yes we can’.
The quote at the beginning of the blog is one of my favourites and taken from Hoggart, R. & Johnson, D. (1987) An Idea of Europe, London, Chatto & Windus.