BECOME A LOCAL HISTORY HUB LEAD

Make a difference by bringing people together.

The greatest value of a Local History Hub is not the number of projects it delivers. It is the relationships it builds and sustains.

Becoming a Hub Lead gives you the opportunity to:

• Make a local difference by connecting schools with the people, places and organisations that bring local history to life.

• Build meaningful partnerships between educators, heritage professionals, historians and community groups.

• Develop your skills in leadership, communication, networking and collaboration.

• Share expertise and opportunities that might otherwise remain disconnected.

• Support children and young people to explore the history of their local area and develop a stronger connection to place.

• Join a growing UK-wide network of people working to make local history more accessible and sustainable.

Whether you work in education, heritage or the wider community, becoming a Hub Lead offers an opportunity to contribute something meaningful to your area.

Connect people. Facilitate conversations. Support collaboration.

A Hub Lead helps establish and sustain a local working partnership between schools, heritage organisations and communities.

Your main responsibilities are to:

• Bring people together: Connect local teachers, schools, museums, archives, historical societies and community partners.

• Coordinate Hub meetings: Aim for around three purposeful meetings each academic year, giving members space to share ideas, discuss opportunities and agree manageable next steps.

• Identify local priorities: Listen to members and explore what would make the greatest difference in your area.

• Encourage lasting relationships: Help schools and heritage organisations develop connections that continue beyond individual activities.

• Support Local History Day: Encourage local schools and partners to participate in ways that work for them.

• Share and signpost: Help members discover useful resources, expertise, events and opportunities.

• Stay connected nationally: Share experiences and feedback with the Local History Hub team to help strengthen the wider network.

You are not expected to do everything yourself.

A successful Hub is a group of people contributing their knowledge, experience and ideas. You help create the conditions for collaboration, rather than delivering every activity yourself.

Different backgrounds. Shared purpose.

Hub Leads can come from a wide range of backgrounds, including:

• Teachers and school leaders

• Museum, archive and heritage professionals

• Local historians and historical societies

• Community organisations

• Other individuals passionate about local history and education

Local History Hub is teacher-led, meaning our approach begins with the needs of schools, teachers and pupils. But this does not mean every Hub Lead must be a teacher.

Teachers bring curriculum knowledge and classroom experience. Heritage and community partners bring specialist expertise, collections, places and local perspectives.

Our Hubs are strongest when that expertise comes together.

Each Hub can have one Lead, co-leads or a wider leadership team, depending on local circumstances. There is no requirement to appoint separate Schools and Community Leads.

Locally shaped. Nationally connected.

Each Local History Hub is a teacher-led local working partnership, bringing schools together with heritage and community organisations.

Hubs typically aim to involve around 10–20 schools alongside local partners, although participation will vary as networks develop.

Most Hubs meet around three times each academic year.

These meetings create space to:

• Build relationships and understand one another's work.

• Share local history opportunities, expertise and resources.

• Discuss challenges and priorities.

• Explore possible collaborations.

• Agree realistic next steps.

Some Hubs may develop shared projects, visits, workshops or events. Others may focus initially on building connections and helping schools access existing local opportunities.

There is no single blueprint. Every Hub should develop in response to the people, places and needs of its area.

FIND YOUR LOCAL HUB →

Start with relationships, not a long to-do list.

Your first year is about establishing connections, building participation and understanding what your local network needs.

A manageable starting point is to:

1. MAKE INITIAL CONNECTIONS
Reach out to interested schools, heritage organisations, historians and community groups.

2. BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER
Arrange an initial Hub meeting so members can introduce themselves, share interests and explore opportunities.

3. AGREE LOCAL PRIORITIES
Identify a small number of realistic next steps based on what members would find useful.

4. KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING
Aim for around three purposeful Hub meetings during the academic year.

5. ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION
Support involvement in Local History Day and consider how to reach schools and communities not yet represented.

By the end of your first year, success does not mean having delivered a large programme of activities.

An active group of people, meeting purposefully and beginning to work together, is a strong start.

Local leadership, backed by a national network.

You will not be starting from scratch.

The Local History Hub team provides:

• A Hub Lead Resource Portal with practical guidance, templates, meeting materials, planning tools and outreach resources.

• Ongoing guidance and support as your Hub develops.

• Connections with other Hub Leads to share experiences, ideas and useful practice.

• Help with local networking and connecting schools with heritage and community partners.

• National opportunities, including Local History Day, that your Hub can engage with in ways that suit its members.

• A dedicated Hub webpage maintained through the national network to help showcase your Hub and share updates.

Our role is to provide the framework, resources and connections that help your local partnership develop.

You bring the local knowledge and relationships. We help you build on them.

We know that teachers, heritage professionals and community volunteers already have significant demands on their time.

The Hub Lead role is designed to be light-touch, collaborative and manageable alongside your existing commitments.

You are not expected to:

• Create an extensive library of teaching resources.

• Organise large events or projects on your own.

• Be the expert on every aspect of local history.

• Personally deliver activities for participating schools.

• Have every detail of your Hub planned from the beginning.

You can share responsibilities with a co-lead or wider group where that works locally.

What matters most is maintaining communication, supporting purposeful meetings and helping relationships develop over time.