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History and heritage more popular than ever for North Easterners

History and heritage are more popular than ever before in the North East according to new figures published yesterday. Research by Museums, Libraries and Archives North East revealed that 98 per cent of museums, 83 per cent of archives and 64 per cent of libraries relied on the support of volunteers. And in July this year, 19 out of the 25 local authorities in the North East had ‘Champions’ who were responsible for drawing attention to the contrubution of history in their community and to encourage more people to get involved - the highest proportion of local authority coverage for any English region.

The heritage sector has also fared well nationally, with more than 1.1 million people demonstrating their support for the History Matters - Pass it On campaign by taking a badge or making an online declaration. Forty six thousand people also helped to make history by contributing a blog of what they did on one single day - 17 October - which will be recorded for posterity at the British Library and over one million people took part in the Heritage Open Days weekend when hundreds of heritage sites opened for free as part of the campaign on 9 September.

Commenting on the tremendous success of the campaign, Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of the National Trust said: “The History Matters - Pass It On campaign has produced overwhelming evidence that people care deeply and passionately about the nation’s history and heritage. Unlocking this passion - giving people a chance to explore and experience the past - has the power to engage and inspire people and help us make sense of the world around us. We are now looking to politicians and policy makers to respond to this demonstration of the public’s passion for history and heritage in the way we look after the past for the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .