Staffordshire’s rich audio heritage could be safeguarded for future generations thanks to a major funding award that will help preserve thousands of at-risk sound recordings across the Midlands.
Staffordshire County Council’s Archives and Heritage service is working alongside other local authorities from the midlands and The University of Leicester who have secured £282,082 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the project.
The funding will support a 12-month project to investigate how valuable sound recordings can be digitally preserved before they are lost forever.
Research carried out by the Institute for Digital Culture in 2025 identified up to 18,000 reel-to-reel and cassette tapes held by libraries, archives and museums across the Midlands.
The collections contain a wealth of local history, including oral history interviews, community memories, music recordings and local radio broadcasts. Many recordings are deteriorating due to age, while the equipment needed to play them is becoming increasingly rare.
Hayley Coles, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture at Staffordshire County Council, said:
"These recordings capture the voices, experiences and stories that have helped shape Staffordshire and the wider Midlands. They give us a unique insight into the lives of local people and communities, many of which may not be represented elsewhere in the historical records.
“We are delighted that Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service is part of this partnership, which will help protect these invaluable recordings from being lost and ensure future generations can continue to learn from this important part of our heritage."
Simon Dixon, Associate Director Community & Heritage at the University of Leicester, said:
“Through the East Midlands Oral History Archive, the University of Leicester has been preserving sound archives for a quarter of a century.
“Building on recent projects, Unlocking Our Sound Heritage and Sounds for the Future, this funding has the potential to secure a major part of the sound heritage of the Midlands for future generations. Thank you to National Lottery players for making this work possible.”
Over the next year, an initial 1,200 recordings will be digitised and preserved as part of the project along with a programme of events and learning activities to help residents discover the shared heritage of the midlands.
The partnership includes Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, Birmingham Archives and Collections, Shropshire Archives and Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service. Staff at Loughborough University will also be exploring how to minimise the carbon footprint of processing and storing data generated by the project.
