Forward plan 2025 - 2028
Maintain a collaborative approach and embed partnerships
- Manage and embed existing partnerships with key local and regional partners to support fundraising and share knowledge and learning across the sector - March 2028
- Develop new partnerships with enthusiast and specialist interest groups in both the county and the city to promote access to collections - March 2026
- Empower users and stakeholders to regularly contribute to the development of our activities through co-production, the critical friends’ group and working with other community groups. - March 2027
- Embed the volunteer programme in terms of numbers and roles undertaken, to add value to the service alongside the professional staff team - March 2026
- Support and advise heritage groups across the county and city on their collections to deliver a strong and resilient network - March 2028
- Deliver a financially secure service seeking external funding to develop and sustain the offer - March 2026/27/28
Lead: Head of Archives and Heritage and Archives and City Archives Service Manager
Performance metrics for this priority activity
- Number of volunteer hours given to the service - Annual targets will be set in the service plan
- Number of organisations actively engaged with in an advisory capacity - Annual targets will be set in the service plan
- Balanced budget - Break even
Deliver a resilient and sustainable service
- Maintain, review and monitor compliance with service accreditations and place of deposit status - March 2026
- Manage our collections to ensure storage is compliant with sector standards, sufficient space for collecting and preserving them for the future - March 2027
- Develop and review collections information, policies and development to ensure they are accessible, and users can engage with them - March 2028
- Manage our buildings to ensure they safe, welcoming and sustainable - March 2028
- Invest in our staff and volunteers through training and development - March 2028
Lead: Collections Manager and History Centre Manager
Performance metrics for this priority activity
- Accreditation status - Fully accredited
- Percentage of collections with a minimum of a collection level description online - 99%
Engage with a wide range of audiences in person and online
- Deliver a rejuvenated public service enabling people to engage with the collections across a range of subjects and disciplines - March 2027
- Engage new audiences with the service and ensure the offer is inclusive and accessible - March 2027
- Develop and deliver touring and onsite exhibitions - March 2027
- Market and promote the service offer - March 2027
- Deliver a formal and informal learning offer and work experience programme - March 2026
- Manage, review and deliver the loans programme working with partners - March 2028
- Complete implementation of new website, online content and payments system - March 2026
- Develop and implement a plan to manage and provide access to born digital archives - March 2026
- Complete digitisation programme prioritising collections identified through user engagement - 2027
- Engage with existing and new users and raising awareness of the relevance of archives through a strong use of social media - March 2028
Lead: Engagement and Access Manager and Collections Manager
Performance metrics for this priority activity
- Digital engagement with the service measured through visitor sessions to service websites and social media impressions or reach - Annual targets will be set in the service plan
- Physical engagement with the service measured through attendances to talks, organised visits, learning sessions and in person visits to our sites - Annual targets will be set in the service plan
Downloads
For a downloadable copy of the Forward Plan (Word, 50.94 KB) you can click here.
