Heritage Project Overview

ESAA 1955 Somerset team - Credit Ann Packer

The Heritage Project is a three-year project to rationalise and catalogue the heritage objects and stories held by England Athletics (EA), the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) and other athletics groups and individuals.

The project aims to broaden audience engagement with athletics heritage through physical and digital exhibitions and engagement with digital content across media platforms, and to provide opportunities for volunteers and communities to take an active role in athletics heritage preservation.  

Key project areas

  1. Collections – EA, AAA and others hold objects recognised as heritage objects. It is vital to capture information about each object in a rational, standardised and usable manner to reduce the risk of loss of knowledge about the objects and their histories. This extends to oral histories which provide an invaluable vernacular record of events or periods in time. 
  1. Exhibitions – provide the opportunity to research and tell inspiring and often untold stories. As athletics has no physical museum space digital exhibitions hosted on The Athletics Museum website will form the basis of the exhibition programme. Supporting this, pop-up displays at various events will allow people to view selected collection objects. 
  1. Engagement – making athletics heritage easier to find and access by improving signposting to exiting content and publishing new content to engaging existing and new audiences. Providing opportunities for participation in the athletics heritage project and support for associate groups in the preservation of their own heritage.  

The project areas are inter-related and inform each other; a better understanding of the collections support exhibition and content development. Exhibitions and digital content drive increased engagement with athletics heritage. Increased engagement fosters a deeper appreciation of and interest in athletics and its heritage in the athletics community.  

The project will create a sustainable heritage policy for England Athletics, compliant with international standards of museum cataloguing to ensure the on-going preservation athletics heritage for current and future audiences. The project will also generate quantifiable data on audience engagement with athletics heritage, putting England Athletics in a position to make informed decisions about future heritage planning. 

For more information please see or to get involved with the heritage project please see The Heritage Register or Athletics Heritage Resources or contact Claire McQuillan, Heritage Officer cmcquillan@englandathletics.org for more information.

The Athletics Museum

Visit the Athletics Museum — a digital exhibition showcasing the rich history of English athletics.