New guide launched to help history and heritage groups in Mayo

Local history and heritage groups in County Mayo are being invited to access a new guide to help secure the future of their volunteer organisation. 

Succession Planning: A Guide for Community Archives and Heritage Groups is a free resource developed by the Irish Community Archive Network (iCAN) - a National Museum of Ireland initiative delivered in partnership with the Heritage Council, participating Local Authorities and community groups across Ireland. 

The Guide looks at ways volunteer groups can address some of the challenges that can influence their future success. 

Common challenges include attracting new members, getting young people involved, keeping adequate records, or losing access to accounts due to lost passwords or IT crashes. 

Effective succession planning addresses these challenges so that groups can safeguard their work into the future. 

iCAN member Mary O’Malley, from the Louisburgh-Killeen Heritage Group in Mayo, welcomed the publication of the new Guide, and said she was ‘delighted’ the Succession Planning Guide is now available.

“iCAN members have drawn on their collective experience and contributed their thoughts and ideas to develop the guidelines, audits and checklists comprised in the guide, and I am sure these will provide a very useful tool and resource for groups who are working to document their local history, heritage and culture and make it available to others,” she added.

_{Frances Holohan, Pat Reid, and Mary O’Malley at the launch in Turlough Park, Castlebar (photo: John Mee Photography)}

iCAN was set up to support volunteer groups across Ireland to develop and maintain their own community archive. It developed the Guide to provide a simple step-by-step process for good succession planning.

Speaking at the launch, Lorna Elms, iCAN Development Officer, said: “iCAN works to empower local communities to document their own history, heritage and culture. This Succession Planning Guide is designed for community archives and heritage groups to ensure their work is future-proofed. It provides a structured approach to forward-planning which, if carried out on an annual basis, will help to ensure groups are maintained and continue to thrive.”

The Guide was officially launched yesterday, July 25, at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, and is now available to download for free from both the museum’s and Our Irish Heritage website.