Our objectives are to provide financial and other support to the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester, and to its students, and to support the study of local history more generally.
Membership of the Friends is open to anyone with an interest in local history – no qualifications are needed, and there is no need to have been a student of the Centre for English Local History, or of the University of Leicester . Members receive a number of benefits. These include an invitation to local history seminars and an annual lecture, which are free of charge, and free use of the research library at the Centre. The Friends of the Centre for English Local History also organises a programme of study days, weekends, conferences and outings, which are open to members and non – members alike. The annual lecture is also open to non-members, upon payment of a small entrance fee. These events aim to increase people’s knowledge about local history .
The Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester is widely respected because it helped to found local history as an academic discipline, and because it continues to be a source of high quality research and fresh ideas . It remains unique because it is devoted to the study of local history everywhere in England and Wales . The Friends of the Centre for English Local History provides bursaries and financial support to MA and PhD students who wish to pursue courses or research within the Centre, including payment of, or towards, course fees, the cost of field courses and research-related travel expenses. This helps students in financial need from any part of the world and all walks of life to pursue their interest in English and Welsh local history at the highest level.
The Friends of the Centre for English Local History also assists the Centre by providing volumes for its library, which students and members of the Friends may use for their research, and by assisting both financially and with practical help in the organisation of academic conferences, which further the spread of knowledge and are ope n to everyone with an interest in the subject. A small publication programme also makes high quality research available to anyone.
More information from friends.englishlocalhistory.org