Present: Cllr. George Cooper (Chair), Mrs Eileen Bowlt, Mrs Trisha Grimshaw, Prof Steve Hodkinson, Mr John Kidd, Mr Tony Mitchell, Ms Paula Palk and Mr David Varley

Apologies: Mrs Raj Chopra and Ms Anna Nightingale.

In attendance: Ms Helen Betteridge, Lady Chisholm, Ms Carolynne Cotton, Mr Richard Daniels and Ms Mandy Mordue.

1. Welcome and Introduction
The Chair welcomed everyone to the second meeting of the Steering Group and invited all attendees to reintroduce themselves.

2. Project Update
The Group was informed that three new members of staff had been appointed, since the last meeting, to the roles of Assistant Archivist (Uxbridge), Assistant Archivist (Brunel) and Digital Technician. Both the assistant archivists had started working on the project. Helen Betteridge, Assistant Archivist (Brunel) had started on 31 May while Richard Daniels, Assistant Archivist (Uxbridge) had started on 6 June. James Rowley the Digital Technician had delayed his start date due to difficulties in obtaining accommodation in the Uxbridge area.

Following the failure to recruit the Senior Archivist post, members were informed that the post would be re-advertised in the ARC job supplement on 17 June with interviews held on 14 July.

It was also reported that permission to purchase the IT equipment had still not been received even though the reports had been received by the HLF, they were still with their legal team.

The Project Managers were still confident that the project could be delivered on time even though there had been delays in obtaining permission to purchase the required equipment and recruiting all staff.

As part of the project update, the issue of space at Uxbridge Central Library was raised and discussed. The Group were informed that the Borough had agreed to a number of conditions in accepting the grant from HLF including a requirement that the collections should be stored in accommodation that met BS5454 (Recommendations for the Storage and Exhibition of Archival Documents, 2000) within 7 years. It was hoped that this would form part of a second stage bid to the HLF to help secure a new build or the refurbishment of an existing building.

It was reported that the University had spent money on a building on its Runnymede campus in order to bring the accommodation up to the required standard to meet the conditions outlined in BS5454.

3. Roles and Responsibilities
Received: Project Management Structure - Roles and Responsibilities document
At the briefing session on 9 February, Members had expressed their need for further clarification of the role of the Steering Group and their individual roles within. It was agreed that a paper defining the roles and responsibilities of the Steering Group would be prepared. Members were asked to comment on the circulated document.

Following discussion, it was agreed that
a process should be included whereby members could request a meeting if they considered it necessary outside the scheduled meetings.
the Steering Group meeting should be amended to read, The Steering Group will normally meet 3 times per year.

The Project Managers to redraft accordingly.

4. Communication Plan
Received: a draft communication plan
At the last meeting on 9 February 2005, it was agreed that the management team would prepare a communications plan for the next meeting. A draft plan was circulated to Members for comment.

The following issues were discussed:
use of publicity how awareness about the project could be raised
most appropriate and cost-effective delivery form/s e.g. the web
evaluation requirements to retain information on publicity results
use of significant events, for example, Archives Awareness Month September 2005 as vehicles for publicity.

It was agreed that
David Varley would advise the Project Managers on publicity to ensure that a consistent cost-effective approach was adopted
the project web site should be established as soon as possible to include information on the background to the project including terms of reference, membership and minutes of the Steering and Executive Groups
initial publicity/ awareness in September 2005 should focus on recruiting more volunteers to the project.
volunteers to draft reports on collections and work undertaken to local newspapers so that the strap-line could publicise the project

5. Project Launch
The Group were asked to comment on whether it would be appropriate to put together a launch event for the project to take place in September 2005 to coincide with Archives Awareness Month.

Discussions included:
budget required e.g. cost of producing the good, reusable display boards
flexibility of exhibition/ display requirement to produce something that could be transferred around the Borough
time and resources involved to meet such a tight deadline

The Group agreed that:
a display should be erected in the Central Library in September 2005 to coincide with Archives Awareness Month
publicity material should be created digitally so that the material could be used on the project web pages
the event is used to encourage volunteers to sign up

6. Any other business
During the meeting, the question of who are our stakeholders was raised. It was suggested and agreed that it was people who would benefit from the project, for example, the HLF, the three partners, schools, local history societies and the general public. The rationale of the Group was to monitor progress against targets, how the project relates to the target audience (is it accessible and how relevant and accessible is the project) and how can we attract new items to the collections.

There was no other business.

The Chair thanked everyone again for their support for the project and for attending the meeting.