Decades of work archiving a city's history have been saved thanks to the help of the Ely Standard.
The Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network (CCAN) for Ely and Little Downham was in danger of being lost without fresh volunteers to join the dedicated pair who have kept it going for the past two decades.
The Ely Standard published an urgent SOS in January appealing for new people to join Beth Lane and John Clarke, who have been working on CCAN since its launch in 2006 by Cambridgeshire County Council.
The community archive is available for anyone to access and to upload photos, newspaper cuttings, and other items of interest, all of which are available online.
RECOMMENDED READING: Meet the owner of new bridal shop in East Cambridgeshire
Retired Ely librarian Beth has been archiving the city's history for 20 years, with John working both on the Ely archive while performing the same job for the Little Downham version.
Both are in their 80s and feared that without new people joining, ready to take over the work, the archives would be lost, as there is an annual fee of £100 to cover administration for the website.
Beth has been paying for it, but in the past, when the archives were first started, there was a committee of around a dozen volunteers helping to log the area's history and fundraising to cover the archives' costs. Over the years, the numbers have sadly dwindled, leaving just Beth and John to carry on the work in Ely.
The archive can include pictures of recent events; they do not have to focus on the past, as the idea is to document the history of Ely as it happens.
Following the Ely Standard's article, which included a video appeal and explanation about the archives by John, a number of people have stepped up to offer their time.
As a result, Beth said: "I think we can now say that thanks to the Ely Standard, Ely and Little Downham's community archives will live to fight another day! So, thank you so very much for your help."
Share