High Life Highland’s Archive Service is celebrating this morning after winning a prestigious UK award.
The Archive and Records Association (ARA) Excellence Awards, took place last night (Thursday 29th August) in Birmingham with the Highland Archive Service triumphant in the Record Keeping Service of the Year category, the only Scottish service to feature.
The Highland Archive Service took 63% of the public vote, with fellow nominees being the Essex Police Museum and Lancashire Archives and Local History.
Michael Golding, Chair of the High Life Highland Board said: “We are all delighted at High Life Highland to see our own Highland Archive Service winning such a coveted award, this is very well deserved.
“Taking 63% of the vote is testament to the professionalism and knowledge of the staff and volunteers that we have working in our four archive centres.
“The Highland Archive Service goes beyond just preserving records; they bring our fascinating history to life in a vibrant way.”
Since its establishment in 1990, the Highland Archive Service has played a vital role in preserving and sharing the rich history of the Highlands. There are four sites operating across the region: the Highland Archive Centre in Inverness; Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre in Portree; Lochaber Archive Centre in Fort William and Nucleus: The Nuclear and Caithness Archives at Wick Airport.
Dedicated to collecting, conserving and making accessible records that reflect the history and diversity of the Scottish Highlands and its residents is at the core of what the Highland Archive Service does. People can access collections in person or through digital channels with lots of focus on reaching out to schools groups, community organisations as well as audiences worldwide.
The Archives and Records Association instituted the ARA Excellence Awards to recognise excellence and contributions by individuals and teams in the record keeping sector. The work of the sector is vital in supporting democracy and human rights and in preserving and sharing the heritage of the UK and Ireland.
To celebrate the achievements of record keeping professionals and their contribution to society, ARA has four special awards: Distinguished Service Award (DSA), Record Keeper of the Year, Record Keeping Service of the Year and New Professional of the Year Award.
In order to properly celebrate this award for the Highland Archive Service, a formal presentation will be made in Inverness with staff and volunteers later this autumn.
Full information on the criteria for each award and the history of the awards can be found at: https://www.archives.org.uk/ara-awards
