Welcome to Billy Davis, a new trustee

We are delighted to welcome Billy as a new trustee of Free UK Genealogy.

Billy brings with him significant experience in public affairs - having worked both for consultancies as well as "in house" at several NGOs. He has a strong personal interest in genealogy and is currently helping trace his own family tree. He is particularly keen to help us to raise our profile and communicate our message to a wider audience.

We have been seeking to increase the number of Trustees in order to develop the range of skills and experience that manage the organisation, and continue to do so.

Pat Reynolds

Executive Director, Free UK Genealogy

We need your help. Turn Black Friday into Give Back Friday!

We've joined Easyfundraising where whenever you buy anything online, you can raise a free donation for Free UK Genealogy. There are nearly 3,000 retailers including Amazon, John Lewis, Aviva, thetrainline and Sainsbury's, who will donate a percentage of the amount you spend to Free UK Genealogy to say thank you for shopping with them and it won't cost you a penny. There are no catches or hidden charges and by shopping in this way, Free UK Genealogy will receive funds which will help keep our data available, free of charge.

This Friday (27th November) shops across the UK will be holding the biggest sales of the year, meaning it's the perfect time to pick up party dresses, grab gifts and take advantage of tech bargains.

Collect free donations for us, all you have to do is:

1. Join - Head to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/freeukgenealogy and sign up for free. In fact if you use this invitation link we will get an extra £1 donation - but you will need to look for us in the list of good causes.

2. Shop - Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first, pick the retailer you want and start shopping.

3. Raise - After you've checked out, that retailer will make a donation to Free UK Genealogy for no extra cost whatsoever!

Don't forget if this is not for you, there are plenty of other ways you can help us support our projects http://www.freeukgenealogy.org.uk/about/donate/

Please help us to keep history free and thank you for your support this Give Back Friday.

Delve into our treasure trove

As part of the Explore Your Archive campaign, which begins on Saturday 14 November, Free UK Genealogy is encouraging people to take the time to visit FreeBMD, FreeREG, FreeCEN to get free public access to family history records.

The Explore Your Archive campaign is encouraging people to discover the stories, the facts, the places and the people that are at the heart of our communities. Archives across the UK and Ireland are taking part to raise awareness of the value of archives to society and the rich variety of content that is held, preserved and made available to users.

While only a small percentage of material held in archives is available online, you can take part by exploring indexes of Births Marriages and Deaths, historic Parish Registers and 19th Century Censuses, free of charge from the comfort of your own home through our websites.

To find out more about the campaign and how you can start your own adventure visit http://www.exploreyourarchive.org/ or visit www.freebmd.org.uk, www.freereg.org.uk and www.freecen.org.uk

Over 300 Free UK Genealogy volunteers responded to a survey about communication in July, 2015.

This survey - and resulting actions - only covered internal communications. A second piece of work, looking at external communications, is planned for 2016.

Key Findings

Two-thirds of volunteers are happy with communication within Free UK Genealogy. A quarter would like more information to be shared, and concerns were aired about the lack of communication. 10% think things could be simpler or easier. Some people raised concerns about their own expertise, the bandwidth available in their location, and the cost of connectivity. A major concern was raised that there is no way for the Executive to communicate with all volunteers, and this will be addressed.

Currently, the most popular ways of receiving information about what is going on at Free UK Genealogy, and in communicating with others are Email lists and Direct Emails. Newsletters, dedicated forums, and the members' area of FreeREG2 are also used to a much smaller extent. Other means of communication are virtually unused.
Looking forwards, almost everyone is satisfied by emails (individual or group) or newsletters – so we will continue to use these, and look at making things simpler or easier for everyone. The use of forums was liked by others, as this enables them to see when a question has been answered and does not clutter their in-box. The development/enhancement of forums-with-email is therefore recommended. A very few people find none of these ways suitable for them. We'll look at ways of meeting their needs, too. One specific instance of a communications failure was given: we will work to minimise these in future.

The full report can be downloaded (pdf).