Hi All,

Please don’t forget to let me know what you are doing for this year’s AAC theme-Sports, Games & the Olympics. I have started to generate a list (to be put in this year’s theme launch press release)with details of events I have been given so far. I need more!

Archive Awareness Campaign 2012

Sports, Games and the Olympics

To coincide with the Games of the 2012 Olympiad, this year Archives are encouraged to put on a broad range of activities to capture the imagination of people, young and old across their region/community and entice them to participate in and explore records relating to the history of sport, games and the Olympics. This is a once–in-a-generation opportunity to  stage an event or programme of events either celebrating the London 2012 Olympic Games, The Paralympic Games, the previous London Olympics (1908 and 1948) or any sporting achievements past and present that have occurred in your community. The theme is also a good opportunity to remember historical and contemporary sporting heroes across the length and breadth of the UK.

Cultural Olympiad

Additionally, to help inspire archives and enable them to find items that fit with the theme, we are opening this up to include the Cultural Olympiad. The Cultural Olympiad is intended to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture. Currently, a number of museums, galleries and libraries have signed up to the programme and will feature a variety of projects as part of the scheme. In a similar way, you can develop an activity that brings together stories and images that tell the story of sport (in the UK) and objects associated with it, as well as the culture and the science of sport. 

Festival of sport-activities can include:

·         exhibitions

·         family activities for half term/summer holidays

·         outdoor activities

·         open days

·         readings

·         street entertainers

·         competitions

·         prize draws

·         physical activities or non-physical activities, such as board games and card games

For something more attention grabbing, you could consider organising an event where for example, descendents of former Olympic athletes or sports heroes (from your area), meet with the local community! The activity could be used as a way of linking the generations who remember – or who remember being told about -  the 1908 and 1948 Olympics.

In addition, as it’s the Queen’s Jubilee, there is also a royal sub-theme for those that want to explore that.

AAC audiences

As always, archives should provide accessible activities to inspire adults, children and families. They should also encourage community participation to increase awareness of what archives are and how they can be used by existing, new and non-traditional users. Developing audiences among younger people, university students, schools and black and minority ethnic communities continue be to a priority to AAC.

Finally, the aim is for archive services across the UK, in local government, museums and galleries to join the team and the rest of the country in celebrating games, and sports.

Please let me know if you have any queries.

Warm wishes

Angela

0207 392 5237

Follow the AAC Twitter on @AngelaOwusu1