ARA Excellence Awards 2026 - Winners announced

‍ARA Excellence Awards 2026

‍The awards of Record Keeper of the Year, Recordkeeping Service of the Year and New Professional of the Year are all voted on by the public. Up to three Distinguished Service Awards are also made each year decided upon by the ARA Board.

These awards are an opportunity to celebrate achievement in the recordkeeping sector in the UK and Ireland.

This year 1,693 people cast their votes in the categories, New Professional of the Year, Record Keeper of the Year and Recordkeeping Service of the Year.

‍New Professional of the Year 2026

New Professional is a recognised career stage by ARA as someone who is in the first five years of their career. This year there were nine nominees:

• Paul Beard

• Nicholas Blake

• Katie Connick

• Penny Duggan

• Grace Jordan

• Isabel Lauterjung

• Charlie Lough

• Aimy Stevens

• Ruth Williams-Sharp

1,471 votes were cast in this category and the winner is:‍ ‍

Aimy Stevens

Aimy is a Level 7 Archives and Records Management apprentice working at Edge Hill University Archive and Special Collections. She is no stranger to receiving awards having been Highly Commended at the WAES (Westminster Adult Education Service) National Apprenticeship Awards in February. Aimy is a volunteer with Explore Your Archive (working on the new podcast series), communications officer for The Archive Group (Liverpool City Region’s Archive Network) a committee member with the Section for New Professionals and also on the ARA conference committee.

Full nomination here. https://www.archives.org.uk/new-professional-of-the-year-2026-nominees/aimy-stevens

Record Keeper of the Year 2026

Record keepers are those who work in the record keeping sector, they may be archivists, records managers, information governance professionals, archive conservators or others working within the sector – for example para professionals, archive assistants, engagement officers etc.

This year there were four nominees in this category:

• Luke Mayo

• Hannah Stamp

• Ruth Williams-Sharp

• Karyn Williamson

961 votes were cast in this category and the winner is

Karyn Williamson

Karyn is a very familiar face to many people in the recordkeeping sector in the UK and Ireland as she is the campaign manager for the Explore Your Archive campaign and also for her work with the Digital Preservation Coalition. She is also a Trustee of the Business Archives Council, Executive Officer for the Business Archives Council Scotland and she will also soon be rejoining the board of ARA as Vice-Chair. It’s great to be able to celebrate a Scottish recordkeeper in Scotland where the awards ceremony takes place this year.

Full nomination here: https://www.archives.org.uk/record-keeper-of-the-year-2025-nominees/karyn-williamson

Recordkeeping Service of the Year 2026

This Award recognises achievements by an archive, conservation or records management service within the last eighteen months in any one of the three professional sectors, in any combination of the sectors or for overall service achievement. The service must employ staff with appropriate qualifications to be eligible and care of archive materials must form part of the remit of any nominated conservation service or team.

We had two nominees in this category:

• University of Leicester Archives and Special Collections

• Edge Hill University Archive and Special Collections

‍1,026 votes were cast in this category and the winner is

Edge Hill University Archive and Special Collections

Edge Hill University Archive and Special Collections is based in Ormskirk, West Lancashire and is a relatively young service, established in 2019 - despite the modern University’s roots going back to 1885 when it opened in Liverpool as the country’s first non-denominational teacher training college for women. In less than ten years the team at Edge Hill – led by Dan Copley – has made a huge difference, expanding the reach of the service not just across the country but even internationally.

Full nomination here: https://www.archives.org.uk/recordkeeping-service-of-the-year-nominees-2025/edge-hill-university-archive-and-special-collections-1

Distinguished Service Awards

These awards are decided on by the ARA board scoring nominations against a set of criteria. This is not an end of career or late career award – anyone at any stage of their career can be nominated. Those nominated should have substantial career achievements such as successful management and/or implementation of a project; external fundraising that has transformed a resource or service; or in recognition of significant improvements to service delivery.  The award can also be made for a consistent level of high achievement over a long period of time. The nominees can work in any area and, as for Record Keeper of the Year, this might include: archivists, records managers, conservators and associated recordkeeping professionals.

The maximum number of Distinguished Service Awards made in any one year is three and this year that maximum has been reached – the winners are:

Catherine Kirby

Catherine is receiving the award for Distinguished Service in Archives and Records Management

Catherine has devoted her entire professional life to the promotion and advancement of archives and record management in the Island of Jersey, her home. The product and effect of that work for Islanders across many sectors of Island life is tangible and will be felt for years to come.

Full nomination here: https://www.archives.org.uk/ara-excellence-awards-winners/dsa-2026-catherine-kirby-archives-and-records-management

Ian Wakeling

Ian is receiving the award for Distinguished Service in Archives and Records Management

Ian is perhaps best known for work in charities and the voluntary sector and the award is made for his leadership and work in developing The Children’s Society’s Archive into a well-respected archive service, his mentorship of a generation of archivists and paraprofessionals who worked with him at The Children’s Society Records and Archives Centre and his contribution to the wider profession, including being a co-founder of the Charity Archivists and Records Managers Group (CHARM).

Full nomination here: https://www.archives.org.uk/ara-excellence-awards-winners/dsa-2026-ian-wakeling-distinguished-service-in-archives-and-records-management

‍Kevin Wilbraham

Kevin is receiving the award for Distinguished Service in Archives and Records Management.

It is great to celebrate a Scottish archivist in Glasgow (where the award ceremony is taking place). Especially as this is where Kevin went to university and the place where he took his first steps on the career path that has given him, and his colleagues, so much. He is now based in Edinburgh as the Information Governance and Strategic Complaints Manager for the Information Governance Unit at The City of Edinburgh Council. Kevin has consistently been an innovator and an advocate in and for the recordkeeping sector but particularly for the recordkeeping sector in Scotland.

Full nomination here: https://www.archives.org.uk/ara-excellence-awards-winners/dsa-2026-kevin-wilbraham-distinguished-service-in-archives-and-records-management

Further information

Full details of all of the nominations can be found here: https://www.archives.org.uk/ara-awards

‍Further information about the awards and the criteria can be found here: https://www.archives.org.uk/ara-awards

‍ ‍