Awards
The Archives and Records Association give out a number or awards either directly, for example the Ellis Prize and the ARA Excellence Awards, through sections and groups, for example the Community Archive and Heritage Group Awards and as an administrator for a national award such as the Archive Volunteering Service Awards.
In this section you can find out more about the range of awards we make.
ARA Exellence Awards
The ARA Excellence Awards give us the chance every year to celebrate the best of what we do and help raise the profile of archivists, conservators and records managers across the UK and Ireland.
The Archives and Records Association created the awards to recognise excellence and contributions by individuals and teams in our sector.
To celebrate the achievements of record keeping professionals and their contribution to society, ARA has four special awards: Distinguished Service Award (DSA), Record Keeper of the Year, Record Keeping Service of the Year, New Professional of the Year Award.
Archive Volunteering Awards
These national awards are an opportunity to thank our volunteers for all their continued support and work. Awards are given to projects which demonstrate how archives have supported volunteers through the past year and have adapted projects to suit their circumstances whether remotely or in new ways of working together.
Winners have a national platform to celebrate their volunteers’ contribution to the service and gain publicity for their archive’s role in supporting individuals and community through volunteering programmes.
You can find out about this year’s winners here.
Details of the awards process and previous award winners can be found here.
The awards are administered by the Archives and Records Association and are supported by: The Archives and Records Association, The UK National Archives, National Records of Scotland, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, The Welsh Government.
Community Archive & Heritage Group Awards
ARA’s Community Archives & Heritage Group (CAHG) aims to support and promote community archives in the UK. It brings together bodies and organisations concerned with community archives and provides a forum for the regular exchange of views, information and best practice.
They make awards each year in three different categories and with one overall winner.
You can read about the awards and this year’s award winners here.
The Ellis Prize
The Ellis Prize is made possible by an endowment to the (then) Society of Archivists in 1972 by Roger Ellis, in memory of his parents Harry and Sybil Ellis.
The Ellis Prize is given to recognise excellent work in the sector and ‘significant contribution to archive theory and practice’.
The Ellis Prize is not an annual prize and it was intended to be given only every three years. It is a mark of the prestige of this award that it has only be awarded 10 times in 50 years.