Yorkshire Film Archive is delighted to announce a new project that will catalogue and open up the previously inaccessible Ukrainian Video Archives Society collection to researchers and the public.

The cataloguing of Ukrainian Video Archives Society is being funded by a £33,350 grant awarded from Archives Revealed. Archives Revealed is a partnership programme between The National Archives, The Pilgrim Trust and the Wolfson Foundation, and is the only funding stream in the UK dedicated to cataloguing and unlocking archives. 

The Ukrainian Video Archives Society Collection was created in 1983 with the mission to record the life of the Ukrainian community in Bradford to pass on to future generations, capturing their cultures, traditions and communities in over 500 films, made over a period of thirty years. Recorded on video tape formats, the original collection is now being preserved and prioritised for digitisation by the Yorkshire Film Archive.

Megan McCooley, Collections Manager at Yorkshire Film Archive said: “We are incredibly excited to begin work on this significant collection being preserved at the Archive, to give everyone the opportunity to learn about the history of the Ukrainian community and its contribution to the rich, diverse culture of the city of Bradford.  The UVAS have always wanted their collection to be seen, to share their stories, and thanks to the Archives Revealed fund, we can now take that first step in making that possible.”

Kersten England CBE, Chief Executive of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, lent her support to the project. She said, “As the UK’s youngest city we believe that it is vitally important for all our young people to understand the rich and diverse heritage of the District and the contributions made by its different communities in pursuit of their common goals and aspirations. And as the first UNESCO City of Film it is fitting that we should use the medium of film to tell our stories, deepen our understanding of our place and people and bring new opportunities to engage with wider audiences; this remarkable collection does exactly that.”

Bohdan Lanovy and Michael Fedyszyn from UVAS added: “The Ukrainian Video Archives Society would like to thank the Yorkshire Film Archive for their support and commitment to working with us, in preserving the Ukrainian community’s heritage for future generations.”

The Archives Revealed funding programme focuses on transforming access to archives for a wide range of users, enabling more people to engage with the UK’s rich documentary heritage. Alongside Yorkshire Film Archive, seven other organisations received funding in the July 2021 round of cataloguing grants: Archives and Cornish Studies, University of Stirling Archives, London Metropolitan Archives, Manchester Art Gallery, Culture Perth and Kinross, University of Liverpool, and Acme.

Dr Valerie Johnson, Director of Collections and Research at The National Archives, said:

“The phrase ‘cataloguing a collection’ only begins to hint at the immense impact that these projects will have for communities and researchers. By cataloguing archives, we can reveal hidden stories representing the lives of people across the UK and, most importantly, we can help people access these records for themselves for the very first time. We’re delighted to be working in partnership with The Pilgrim Trust and the Wolfson Foundation to make these discoveries possible.”

Find out more about the Archives Revealed funding programme: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/finding-funding/archives-revealed/