Charity Records at Risk? A critical investigation into records in charities and voluntary organisations in England

This thesis critically examines concepts of risk to records in charities and voluntary organisations in England. It takes a report commissioned by The National Archives (TNA) in 2016 that designated the records in the voluntary sector at an elevated risk and it considers whether records in the voluntary sector are ‘at risk’ and, if so, why is this the case? This research is an interdisciplinary study, and it is the first to combine intellectual contributions from archives and records management and voluntary sector studies. It investigates the types of risks to records in the voluntary sector in England, the organisational factors that might impact these risks, what previous interventions have aimed to preserve records and what future action can be taken to improve record-keeping standards. This thesis draws on rich data collected from 33 semi-structured interviews, as well as fieldwork, three stakeholder events attended by over 40 participants, secondary analysis of quantitative data and desk-based research. This research has been conducted as a part of a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership with TNA, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). This thesis argues that the claims that records in the voluntary sector in England are ‘at risk’, as a generalised statement, obscures a more complex set of overlapping issues and overlooks the novel contributions the voluntary sector can make in record-keeping theory and praxis. This thesis makes several contributions to knowledge. It applies Mary Douglas’s theory of risk, as well as a wide range of other theories, to provide new conceptualisations for risks to records in the voluntary sector. This thesis also makes contributions to practice, and the findings from this research will be used for the second phase of TNA’s Charity Archives Development plan. Overall, the thesis argues that risks to records in the voluntary sector are complex, provides new explanations for how and why these risks occur and calls for the centring of the experiences of beneficiaries in voluntary sector record-keeping practice.