Booking now open for our Annual Conference

The 2026 Community Archives annual conference will be held at University College London, on the 8th July 2026, 10:30am - 4:30pm.

The conference is being held with support from the Oral History Society Archives Special Interest Group and UCL Department of Information Studies.

Preserving community memories through audio and film

Oral history recordings are at the essence of many community archive and heritage activities. The CAHG conference this year will explore, through a keynote presentation from a community practitioner, expert presentations, panel discussions and Q&A, how individuals and groups use oral history to capture hidden and unheard memories.

Presentation details and speaker biographies

‘Goldiggers’

by Chippenham Museum, Elaine Davis

In 1981 Goldiggers night club opened in Chippenham and over the following 20 years grew to become the centre of a young and vibrant community.

In 2017 Chippenham Museum joined with media students from the local college for an oral history project recording the memories of those connected to the club.

This presentation will focus on the unexpected outcomes of the Goldiggers project and how, at a time when there is an increasing divide between generations, the project is informing a new youth-led project which will use oral history to record and develop an understanding of past communities while working to bridge the gaps between the current one.

Elaine Davis is Engagement Officer at Chippenham Museum.  She worked on the Goldiggers project in 2017 in collaboration with staff and students from Wiltshire College and University Centre during which she witnessed the power of oral history collecting.

Since then, she has explored the use of oral history recording in several other projects developing solutions to the challenges of cost, storage and dissemination.

Preserving Deaf Heritage in BSL

by Deaf History Scotland and Deaf Action

This joint presentation from Deaf History Scotland and Deaf Action will share learning from the 2022 Year of Stories project, which collected personal stories in British Sign Language (BSL) connected to Deaf Action’s historic Albany Street building in Edinburgh, home to the charity since 1889.

This presentation will discuss the challenges and opportunities of collecting signed heritage, including filming, translation, accessibility and ethical considerations, and why community-led approaches are essential to preserving deaf heritage for future generations.

Deaf History Scotland is a volunteer and deaf-led charity founded in 2008. DHS are committed to preserving and celebrating the history, culture, and activities of deaf people and deaf organisations in Scotland. DHS is also the caretaker of the Scottish Deaf Archive, which is based in Edinburgh and holds more than 200 years of material relating to deaf history in Scotland.

Deaf Action is a deaf-led charity that supports and celebrates deaf people. Established in 1835 and working with deaf people across Scotland and the South of England. Deaf Action's work is geared towards empowering all deaf people to achieve their potential and fully participate in society, with equality of rights, access and opportunity.

‘Cillini of Louisburgh and Killeen: Traditional Practices and Archaeology’

by Deirdre McGuirk, Louisburgh Killeen Heritage

Louisburgh Killeen Heritage cilliní project explores the histories and meanings of children’s burial grounds through oral history, audio and film. These sites, often unmarked and historically marginalised, remain deeply embedded in local memory yet are rarely documented in formal archives.

This work demonstrates how audio-visual approaches can respectfully preserve overlooked aspects of community heritage while fostering dialogue and remembrance.

Louisburgh Killeen Heritage records and preserves the history and heritage of the area. The group is a member of iCAN (Irish Community Archive Network), which is managed by the National Museum of Ireland.

Love Conquers Clubland Community Heritage Group

by Suzy Mason and Sinead O'Riordan 

The presentation explores the value of small scale intergenerational DIY approaches to preservation, including oral history interviews and informal documentation such as i-phone and Whatsapp voice notes and digital stories. It will look at how people’s experiences and memories can be meaningfully and ethically preserved with limited resources and without initial institutional support.

Love Conquers Clubland a Leeds based Club Culture community heritage group archiving the experiences of women and the LGBTQ+ community in clubland in 1990' -2000's. Volunteer led and made up of original members of the first purpose built female run safe space clubs in Leeds (Speedqueen and Vague) and  young people interested in club culture and the current night time economy.

Suzy Mason is the founder of Love Conquers Clubland a community archive project documenting club culture in Leeds from the 90s and 2000s from the perspective of women and the LGBTQ+ community, people who have too often been overlooked in clubland
She was the longest running female club promoter in Leeds co-founding Vague and Speedqueen in the 90’s, the first inclusive safe space club nights to exist in the city.

Sinead O’Riordan is a recent MA Museum Studies graduate from the University of York. Joining Love Conquers Clubland last year, she has helped promote the work of the archive and deliver the ‘Music Leeds Us’ exhibition in partnership with Leeds City Museum.
She is passionate about the archive’s potential as a creative resource and tool for inter-generational communication.

From Oral History to Anthro-Digital Narratives: Reframing Black British Archives through Creative Practice

By Michi Masumi

This presentation explores why oral history remains central to Michi’s practice-based PhD. Oral history was chosen for its ability to centre lived experience, particularly for Black British communities whose voices are often underrepresented within institutional archives.

Working with The Black Art Hub CIC and the Benjamin Zephaniah Library, recordings are not treated as static outputs. They are activated through photography, AI-hybrid digital art, and sonic poetry, where spoken word, AI-assisted sound, and music create layered, immersive narratives.

The presentation will look at the challenges including ethical considerations around representation, consent, and the limitations of AI in reflecting Black identities.

Michi Masumi. BA.MA. is a full-time practice-led PhD researcher, artist, and the founder of The Black Art Hub CIC. Her work centres on oral history, photography, sonic poetry, and AI-assisted digital art.  Michi is a two-time recipient of a silver honourable mention from the London Photography Awards who prioritises accessibility, representation, and inclusive community-led approaches to archiving.

From Memory to Multi-Media: Reawakening the Lights of Leamington through Oral History

By David Clargo and Carole Sleight, Whittle Productions CIC

When a community repeatedly says “someone should record this before it’s too late,” oral history becomes essential. This presentation explores how it shaped The Lights of Leamington: Switched On Stories a National Lottery Heritage Fund–supported project delivered by Whittle Productions CIC.

The presentation reflects on key challenges, including limited archive material, time constraints, and engaging older participants, and how these were addressed through creative production, flexible delivery and strong community partnerships.

David Clargo and Carole Sleight are co-directors of Whittle Productions CIC, a community interest company based in Royal Leamington Spa. With backgrounds in the BBC and community arts, they specialise in storytelling, oral history and creative engagement. Together, they led Switched On Stories, preserving and sharing the legacy of the Lights of Leamington through film, audio, exhibitions and digital media.