Offering us your personal possessions

We are interested in objects and documents that tell the story of the co-operative movement in the UK especially records from the recent past (post 1970s) and under-represented groups.

We have limited storage, so can't accept everything we are offered. These are the reasons we might accept something:

• It's a unique item - or tells a unique story
• The item enhances other parts of our collection
• We are the best or only place for the item to come to
• The material is in good condition and is not a conservation risk to other material.
• We can collect 'born digital' (such as digital photographs and electronic minutes), but please contact us so we are able to follow the right procedures to ensure its management.

                                            

Conservation / storage of museum objects CHT CR 2024

                                               

When offering materials to us, please try to tell us the following details to help us make a decision:

•    What is it about  / what was it used for? 
•    What kind of material is it made from (paper, film, metal, glass, etc)  
•    When was it created/ do you know who the copyright holder is? 
•    How much material is there? (one box / one shelf / one room)
•    What condition it is in? (how has it been stored)

It is helpful if you can include some images.

If we accept a donation, we prefer people to bring documents or objects to us to minimize our costs as a charity. We can consider other methods in certain circumstances but please discuss this by contacting us 
[email protected]   or [email protected]  

                                     

Archive Volunteering and archival storage - CHT CR 2024

Donating Business Collections / on behalf of a business

Lots of co-ops were or are also businesses and these types of records:

• Explain the beginnings, achievements, innovation, organisational culture, reputation, products and people.
• Illustrate key developments and activities of a business over time and preserve corporate memory for the future.

Not all records created by a business are useful to an archive - businesses should make a retention schedule to decide what they have to keep by law (statutory records), and what will be useful for future reference for that organisation specifically. 

We offer a service to co-ops to help them identify which records should be kept or donated to archives at the end of the retention period.

Sensitive or confidential information?

Some information in your records could be considered sensitive or confidential. If this applies to donated records; the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act, protect any such information relating to living individuals. 

Business records not in the public domain will remain closed for 30 years and some sensitive material can be closed for up to 100 years. We can agree to specific closure periods being placed on particular records if considered appropriate.

This page from the Business Archives Council of Scotland explains what business archives are and how they can be an asset to businesses and archives.

The cost of collections

There are significant costs associated with looking after records as we are a charity which does not receive public funding. When being asked to take a large deposit, we may request a contribution towards those costs, which could be financial or in kind (staff time, other resources).

Providing museum and archive services protects the movement's heritage and enriches the wider community. This is a long term aim of our charity and support from the co-operative movement to underpin it is vital.