Archive Project

GMCDP has embrarked upon a groundbreaking project to document the history of the UK's Disabled People's Movement.

Following the completion of a 12 months HLF funded UK Disabled People’s Movement and History Archive Project, a comprehensive report was produced.

This report highlighted the background to the archive project, the objectives, methodology of implementation, findings, conclusions and recommendations for the way forward.

The following is a summary of the report.

Why the project is needed

The history of the UK Disabled People's Movement is one of the most momentous and significant social movements which took root in the late 20th Century and is still very active today.   The Movement created a wide range of resources – which are demonstrated through the art and culture generated within the Disabled People’s Movement and GMCDP believes that much of this deserves a place in the recorded history of disabled people.

Sadly, at present, this heritage of the Disabled People's Movement is spread out and often located in disorganised piles and boxes, files and material, sometimes in isolated locations across the country.  Much of it remains unrecorded and languishing in the heads and hearts of individuals.

GMCDP and its partners wish thus to preserve, unify, conserve, record  and make these resources widely available to current and future generations either for self studies, educational or policy decision making.

What the project revealed

In order to find out what kind of Archive was needed, we consulted with both indviduals and organisation of disabled people.150 Questionnaires were distributed to organisations, 32% were returned and from 500 Questionnaires distributed to individuals, 17% were returned.

Varied methodologies were adopted to ensure that the objectives of the project were achieved.  The choices selected were felt to be the most appropriate either due to financial constraints or were seen to be more feasible in obtaining the kind of information required and to ensure that a higher rate of success was achieved.  They involved a series of activities such as face to face interviews, questionnaire distribution, telephone, email and written correspondences.  These activities of this project took place within the 4 nations and provinces of the United Kingdom namely: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Conclusions

Key conclusions where drawn from the research methodologies adapted.  They specified the preferred location of the proposed archive, comments on the questionnaire results, current storage situation, the cost, type of materials relating to the Disabled People’s Movement that are owned, funding barriers that we face, current materials management, our need to seek partnership, about the management of the archive/resource centre and the importance of networking to such a big project.                                                                                          

Recommendations

Several key recommendations were highlighted in the report.  The first one is that it was too soon to embark upon a major capital project.  What is required of the project is gradual development.  In this respect, it was recommended that a new follow up developmental project be embarked upon at the end of the feasibility studies.  This new project will focus along the lines of a Community Outreach Archive project.  Materials donated to date should form the basis of developing the project further.  Also recommended is the need to make the resources available on-line.

The report pointed out some other recommendations that should be considered for the future development of the project.  These include: setting up a home for the archive, staffing, project steering group, partnership, progress evaluation, the establishment of a 5-year project plan and the need to apply for funding from the wider community.

Contact: For further infromation about the Archive Project please contact Caron Peachey, GMCDP Team Leader (cpeachey@gmcdp.com)