OUR IMPACT

Our first challenge has been to connect people who might otherwise have limited opportunities to work together.

Local History Hub has grown into a UK-wide network of more than 40 hubs, supported by over 40 volunteer Hub Leads and engaging more than 250 schools and community partners.

Our information sessions have also attracted over 250 sign-ups, reflecting growing interest in locally rooted learning and collaborative approaches to local history education.

These figures demonstrate the reach of our network, but they are only part of the picture.

We are particularly interested in reaching schools serving communities experiencing socio-economic disadvantage, where access to heritage opportunities may be more limited.

As our network develops, we are improving how we record participation, meeting attendance and continued engagement.

This will help us understand not only how far the network reaches, but whether members find it sufficiently useful to remain involved.

Our ambition is for hubs to become meaningful, sustainable local working parties, rather than simply names on a map.

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We want Local History Hub to make a practical difference to teachers, schools and heritage organisations.

For teachers, this means developing confidence, strengthening local knowledge and making it easier to access relevant heritage expertise.

For heritage organisations, it means building stronger relationships with schools and developing a better understanding of curriculum needs and the realities of classroom life.

We also want to understand whether these relationships help schools develop meaningful opportunities for local history across the curriculum, including connections with English, geography, art and other subjects.

Our approach prioritises sustained collaboration over isolated training sessions or one-off activities.

Through teacher feedback, Hub Lead reflections, examples of partnership working and curriculum development, we are beginning to build a clearer picture of what works.

During 2026–28, we will explore whether participation contributes to changes in teacher confidence, classroom practice and the quality of school–heritage relationships.

We recognise that lasting changes take time. Our focus is on manageable improvements that can become part of everyday school life.

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Children are at the heart of our mission.

Our developing Theory of Change explores whether meaningful local history learning can strengthen pupils' knowledge and understanding of place, contribute to a stronger sense of belonging and support greater engagement with learning.

We believe these connections are worth investigating, but we do not assume that they happen automatically.

We are particularly interested in the experiences of pupils facing socio-economic disadvantage and in understanding how different children experience place, identity and belonging.

Our national Pupil Voice Survey is an important part of this work. By listening directly to young people, we hope to develop a clearer understanding of their experiences of local history, their connections to the places in which they live and the opportunities available to them.

We are committed to sharing what we learn. An interim report is planned for February 2027, followed by a fuller annual report in July 2027. These reports will explore emerging findings, identify patterns and differences in pupils' experiences where the evidence allows, and consider what these might mean for schools, heritage organisations and policymakers.

Alongside teacher feedback, classroom examples and pupil work, this research will help us test and refine our Theory of Change and inform the future development of Local History Hub.

Our aim is not simply to demonstrate impact, but to build a credible evidence base that helps us understand what works, for whom and under what circumstances.

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We believe the long-term success of Local History Hub will depend on whether the relationships and opportunities it creates can be sustained.

A single meeting, training session or heritage visit can be valuable. But our ambition is to support collaboration that continues and develops over time.

Our hubs are designed to grow gradually, beginning with networking, relationship-building and Local History Day before moving towards collaborative curriculum development.

This approach recognises the pressures facing teachers and heritage professionals, and the importance of making change manageable.

During 2026–28, we are working to understand which elements of our model are most useful, what barriers members encounter and how our support can be improved.

This includes examining repeat participation, the development of partnerships, the usefulness of CPD and examples of local history becoming more firmly embedded in school provision.

We are also interested in understanding how hubs operate in different geographical and socio-economic contexts, recognising that a successful approach in one community may need adapting elsewhere.

We are committed to learning from challenges as well as successes, using evidence and member feedback to refine our approach.

Our aim is to develop a practical, sustainable and replicable model that supports teachers and communities without creating unnecessary workload or depending on short-term enthusiasm alone.

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