Archivist’s 6th Blog: Closing the Chapter, Handing Over the Keys, and Setting Sail

Hello again, beautiful family of light! 🌸

If my last post in July was about facing the quiet reality of a sparse Universal Hall and rolling up my sleeves to do the heavy cataloguing lifting on my own, then August and September have been an absolute crescendo of completion!

It feels like only yesterday I arrived on a blustery, freezing February evening, deposited into an eco-house in East Whins and getting utterly lost along the winding paths of the Park. When I began my work, I started by doggy paddling along the edges of a huge Loch of Languished Lore, sunken, silent and still resilient, where forgotten threads find voice and spread. Now, six months later, as the blustery autumn air rolls over the bay and the geese herald their return to autumnal scenes, I am finally standing on solid ground at the end of the loch.

The 6-month Community Archive Project contract has formally reached its horizon. We have closed the rabbit hole, tied up the loose threads, and packaged six decades of socio-spiritual history into a world-class, professional framework.

“As we honour the Past, we meet in the Present, and together we step into the Future.”
– Co-Creating Our Collective Autobiography

📦 What We’ve Achieved Since July: Packing the Treasure Trunk

When I stepped back from trying to rally Community engagement, I pivoted to direct, relationship-based archiving. Through one-on-one tea chats and deep dives into the materials of the Park Building, we achieved what felt impossible back in the spring:

The Library Inventory & Policy: Thanks to the heroics of our volunteer book-sorting circle in the Universal Bungalow, the massive mountain of books has been grouped, alphabetised, and will be able to be catalogued! We held our NFA Sunday Consultation on August 16th in the Legacy Room, drafted a formal Library Policy, and handed operational lead of the “Living Library” over to Fabien Barouch and his group.

National Bids & Heritage Preservation: We successfully secured a National Archives Scoping Grant to conduct a comprehensive assessment of materials in the Park Building belonging to the Foundation and partner organisations like the NFD. This study allowed us to evaluate and bring order to these documents, ensuring they are safely preserved before the Foundation is formally wound down.

🔑 Passing the Baton: The Archive’s Living Future

An archive is never a static attic; it is a living, breathing resource. As I pack up my desk, I am not leaving a void behind. The keys to the collection are being handed over to a dedicated, Community-led stewardship network:

FF SCIO willing to take responsibility for two aspects of the archives: 1) responsible for the FFT archives and 2) willing to be the constituted organisation who will submit grant applications (providing other parties have resourced the preparation of any grant applications).
Community Archive Council (led by Cornelia Featherstone and Abbott Chrisman) as the open stakeholders circle will
- hold the big picture
- keep the low-cost, volunteer-led processing moving forward between grant cycles
- eventually elect the Community Archive Board which will work with the FF SCIO regarding governance and operations and long-term sustainability.

All master spreadsheets, survey data, intake templates, and policies have been transferred directly into the shared COIF Drive system. You are in wonderful hands!

✈️ What’s Next for the Travelling Archivist?

As for me? The “wandering archivist” is taking to the road once again!

My time in Moray has been a deeply enriching chapter, but my wanderlust and archive adventures call me onward. In October, I am setting off on an extended journey across Europe and Asia.

My first stop is Estonia, where I’ll be visiting Tallinn to reunite with Film Archive colleagues and explore archive facilities across Scandinavia! From there, my travel itinerary takes me further afield into Asia for research, cultural immersion, and well-earned relaxation along new coasts and beaches. Not to mention some hot weather, at long last, anxiously awaited after a cold summer in Scotland. Seriously, does it ever get warm up here?

I’ll still be fostering my love for archives, libraries and community stories wherever I land, just with a camera, a notebook, and a lighter backpack (without any heavy woolly jumpers)!

💖 A Final Thank You to the Bay, the Pines, and You

To every hand that carried a box, every voice that shared a story over tea, every person who sat in our circles, passed along materials, or held a focus of light for this vision … thank you.

Thank you to Cornelia Featherstone, Fabien Barouch, the COIF team, the FFT Trustees, and our tireless volunteers, who filled every room with warmth, laughter, and grounded wisdom.

I owe a special debt of gratitude to the Friends of Park Gardens, who warmly embraced me during the cold, grey days of February. Between endless cups of tea and choccy biscuits, you helped me find my footing through those early months, grounding me in the living soil of the Park as we weeded and planted together.

And to the wonderful Questors of the Theatre of the 7 Directions and the inimitable, radiant lifeforce Laura Pasetti, thank you for steering me through this wonderfully mad journey down the Findhorn rabbit hole, leading me right into the vibrant, artistic soul of this place.

Findhorn is a rare haven where the land and sea breathe in rhythm with your own soul. As I set off, I will carry memories of blustery beach walks, the ethereal light dancing over the bay, the scent of the towering pines, and the sheer wonder of a Community that bravely co-creates its own story.

The archive is grounded, safe, and ready for its next chapter. Keep listening to the stories, keep honouring the roots, and keep weaving your collective autobiography!

With deep gratitude, light, and ocean waves,