Professor Elizabeth Shepherd, President of the Archives and Record Association, visited the University to present the two awards won by Edge Hill at the Archives and Records Association (Uk and Ireland) conference in Glasgow.
The University’s Archive and Special Collections team was named Recordkeeping Service of the Year, while Archive Apprentice Aimy Stevens won New Professional of the Year award.
The Archives and Records Association annual awards celebrate excellence across the recordkeeping, archive and conservation sector in the UK and Ireland. The winners were decided by a public vote, with more than 1,000 votes cast.
During her visit, Professor Shepherd praised the team’s achievements and its work with colleagues, students, volunteers and partner organisations.
She said: “I am amazed that you can achieve all of this with a core archive team of just two people. A small but mighty team who are clearly very good at working with others, engaging with colleagues, students and volunteers.
As well as a host of national, international and local community organisations in ways that enable you to show the world the riches that Edge Hill University Archive and Special Collections hold and, even more importantly, the values that Edge Hill University adheres to.”
Professor Neil Morris, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Success at Edge Hill University, thanked Professor Shepherd for visiting the campus to present the awards.
He said: “Today is really about recognising excellence. These awards reflect not only professional achievement but also commitment, ambition and the impact that a small but highly talented team can have.
“The recognition of the archive service as Recordkeeping Service of the Year, alongside Aimy’s award as New Professional of the Year, is a tremendous achievement and one that the University is immensely proud of.
“Their work has enhanced the University’s reputation, expanded the reach of our collections and demonstrated the value that archives can bring to learning, research and public engagement.”
Edge Hill’s Archive and Special Collections team preserves the institutional, cultural, and historical records of the University and its predecessor institutions, dating back to its foundation in 1885.
The team holds and is actively seeking, collections that support the teaching, learning and research at the University.
It’s collections also provide insights into the development of higher education in Britain and changing experience of the people who have studied and worked at Edge Hill.
Dan Copley, Archive and Special Collections Manager at Edge Hill University, said: “It is such an honour to win the ARA’s Recordkeeping Service of the Year Award and to have Professor Shepherd visit our campus in Ormskirk to present it to the archive team and colleagues who support the work we do.
“The archive team have achieved a lot over the past couple of years – bringing in world class collections like the Terence Davies Archive, working with major institutions in London, New York and Toronto, and leading research that has revealed the pioneering work of some of our earliest female students.
“None of this would have been possible without the support of colleagues across the University, our amazing student volunteers, archive donors and the fabulous partner organisations who have helped us share our collections with people all over the world.”
Over the past 18 months, the team has worked on several major projects. These include the archive of Liverpool-born filmmaker Terence Davies and research exploring the University’s early history,
Learn more about Edge Hill University’s archive and special collections service.
October 21, 2026
