Staffordshire’s audio heritage is set to be examined and protected after a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £282,082 was secured to support a 12-month project investigating the digital preservation of sound recordings across the Midlands.
Scale of the challenge
Research by the Institute for Digital Culture in 2025 identified up to 18,000 reel-to-reel and cassette tapes held in local archives, libraries and museums in the region. Many of those recordings contain oral histories, community memories, music and local radio broadcasts. Archivists say a combination of physical deterioration and the dwindling availability of playback equipment places a large proportion of the collections at risk.
"These recordings capture the voices, experiences and stories that have helped shape Staffordshire and the wider Midlands,"
said Hayley Coles, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture at Staffordshire County Council, who described the material as offering a unique insight into local lives and communities often absent from other records.
Who is involved and what they will do
The project brings together Staffordshire County Council's Archives and Heritage service, other Midlands local authorities and the University of Leicester. The university’s participation draws on its experience with the East Midlands Oral History Archive and long-running preservation work.
- Funding: £282,082 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
- Duration: 12 months of research and planning activity.
- Scope: assessment of up to 18,000 tape-format recordings across the Midlands.
Simon Dixon, Associate Director Community & Heritage at the University of Leicester, said the award builds on national programmes and regional initiatives that have already aimed to safeguard sound archives.
Practical implications for local collections
The grant will not only map what exists but investigate how items might be digitised and made accessible while ensuring proper conservation. That work is expected to inform future bids and practical preservation activity; the funding covers the research and planning phase needed to design a larger-scale digitisation programme.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format types | Reel-to-reel and cassette tapes |
| Estimated items | Up to 18,000 |
| Project length | 12 months |
For Staffordshire residents, the exercise promises better protection for recordings that document local voices and social history. The planning phase should clarify how archives can be preserved, who will carry out digitisation and how future access for researchers and the public might be managed.
National Lottery players fund heritage work across the UK; the award here is intended to underpin a longer-term approach to securing the Midlands’ sound heritage for future generations.
