About the Community Archives and Heritage Group (CAHG)

The Community Archives and Heritage Group (CAHG) is a national group which aims to support and promote community archives in the UK & Ireland.

We bring together bodies and organisations concerned with community archives, and provide a forum for the regular exchange of views and information.

Our annual conference and awards

Since 2007, we have organised an annual conference, and we sometimes run regional conferences as well. In 2011 we awarded our first Community Archive & Heritage Awards, to celebrate the importance of community archives and to promote best practice.  We now hold an awards competition each year.

Resources and newsletter

We have developed Resources specifically for community archives, in particular a set of cataloguing guidelines. You can keep in touch with our activities via Twitter @CArchives and subscribe to our an e-mail newsletter.

Directory of archives and regional networks

You can explore our directory of hundreds of community archives on this website. We are keen to create self-sustaining networks of community archive groups in different regions of the UK and Ireland.  There is a very successful network in Scotland called CAHG Scotland.

Constitution and membership

Until 2009, the Community Archives and Heritage Group was run on an informal basis by a group of interested volunteers and professionals. To give us a proper foundation, in June 2009 we adopted a constitution.  Membership is free and open to anyone. We invite you to become a member.

CAHG is now a Special Interest Group of ARA (UK & Ireland).  You can download our constitution.

Steering committee

The following people were elected at the 2025 AGM on 20 November.

• Andrew Flinn (Chair)
• Amelia Spanton
• Elaine Davis
• Audrey Wilson
• Milton Brown
• Donna Maughan
• Alan Butler
• Lorna Elms
• Jane Golding
• Jack Latimer
• Ben Earl
• Laura Cotton
• Helena Smart
• Tina Morton
• Deborah Mason
• John Chambers

Vision statement

Our vision statement can be read here.