Archives team making history

Laura Earnshaw (l) with (l-r) Joanne Robson, Archives Officer at Oldham Local Studies and Archives; Dorothy Bintley, a volunteer at the archive (holding the Archives and Records Association Volunteer Award for 2015); and Roger Ivens, Local Studies Officer

OLDHAM Local Studies and Archives volunteers helped to make history at a Manchester awards ceremony.

Representatives from the borough took individual and group accolades at the Greater Manchester Archives and Local Studies Partnership Volunteer Awards. The event, in Salford, celebrates outstanding contributions to local studies services.

Laura Earnshaw won the award for Outstanding Contribution from a Young Volunteer for her “tremendous contribution” to the Heritage Lottery-funded World War One project “On the Trail of the Oldham Pals”.

Laura carried out extensive research and uncovered material used in the Oldham Pals town trail, exhibition and website.

Volunteers from Oldham Local Studies and Archives were also among the winners of the Archives and Records Association Volunteer Award - a national prize presented to all volunteers across Greater Manchester who contributed to “GM1914”, exploring the impact of the Great War on local communities.