The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity working throughout the UK to champion archaeology and to help people experience and participate in archaeology. We bring together community groups, commercial archaeology companies, academics and heritage organisations to create and share opportunities to discover, take part in and be inspired by archaeology.
Our core work is focused on five activity areas:
1. CBA Membership – We have approximately 3,500 members and c.270 organisational members (affiliates). Membership is open to anyone with an interest in archaeology and each member receives a copy of British Archaeology magazine. We also support 11 CBA groups who co-ordinate and deliver activities and support in their geographic areas.
2. Youth Engagement – Our flagship youth engagement project is the Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC). This is a network of over 75 individual clubs working with young people aged 8-16 to engage them with the heritage of their local area through hands-on activities. YAC groups are led by over 500 volunteers and are attended by more than 2,000 young people across the country. We are also working on a Youth Governance programme aiming to remove barriers to young people’s participation in archaeology and creating a Youth Advisory Group for the CBA
3. Casework and Advocacy – The CBA is one of seven National Amenity Societies whose are statutory consultees on any proposed alterations to listed buildings. Our casework team handle over 5,800 listed building applications across England and Wales each year. We use a network of volunteers from a variety of backgrounds to help advise on the impact and suitability of listed building application and development proposals according to legislation, policy, and guidance for safeguarding the historic environment within the planning system.
4. CBA Events – We co-ordinate and support the annual Festival of Archaeology. This national event comprises events, talks, digs, and activities designed to appeal to a broad range of people, including those new to archaeology. In 2021, a total of 505 unique events were delivered by organisers across the UK and the digital reach of the Festival was over 70 million. We also manage the Archaeological Achievement Awards which celebrate archaeology across the UK and Republic of Ireland, and the Marsh Community Archaeology Awards which recognise community and youth projects in archaeology and the people that work on them.
5. Publications and Communications – We publish British Archaeology, the foremost archaeological magazine in the UK bringing in-depth news and research on archaeology to a wide audience. We also publish specialist books and papers containing important archaeological insights
Why the Council for British Archaeology is supporting Boardroom Apprentice
In April 2021 we developed a new Business Plan and undertook a comprehensive review into how we approach issues around inclusion, equality and diversity;not only within our own organisation, but in terms of how we can support the wider archaeological sector to be more engaging and to place participation and public value at the heart of what they do.
As an organisation that champions participation we have a strong set of values that underpin our Vision and Mission – both of which set out our objective to provide opportunities and experience to all with need for equity fully acknowledged.
The Board of Trustees is essential in setting the strategic direction of the organisation and helping staff drive forward our vision, mission and values.
We have been undertaking a Governance Review to ensure we have the right barad structure the deliver effective Strategic Leadership, Oversight and Overview. Our diversity review highlighted a lack of inclusion at board level and we have actively moved forward in addressing this;brining different views and lived experience to our Board. Part of this work involved applying to host a Boardroom Apprentice in 2022 to bring in those different voices to our Boardroom, gaining valuable insight and experience to our board from outside our traditional pool of trustees. We also wanted to give an opportunity to someone to see how a Board operates who might not have ever thought they would be able to before.
Our existing Boardroom Apprentice has been a valuable boon to us and we would very much like to offer the opportunity again next year;with an aim to host an “apprentice” on an annual basis for the foreseeable future.
We would offer opportunities for a Board Apprentice to particularly support our ongoing Governance Review and its implementation, development of our Youth Governance work and how we use both of these strands in moving forward with wider organisational change. We would provide a dedicated Buddy from our existing Board and arrange regular mentoring meetings.
Location of Board and Committee Meetings
The board alternates between virtual meetings and in-person meetings. In person meetings usually take place at our offices in York; but we do look to hold these elsewhere from time to time, e.g. hosted by our trustees in their own workplaces.
Frequency and timing of board/committee meetings
Board meetings are quarterly and length/time varies as each meeting has specific standard agenda items across the year. January meeting is 2hrs (afternoon/early evening), April meeting 3hrs (afternoon), August Meeting 1hr (lunchtime or evening), and October meeting is over 2 days as it includes a trustee training workshop and a chance to meet with staff. Our AGM takes place in February on an evening and lasts 2 hrs.
In addition, we hold additional short (1 hr) trustee briefing sessions at three points throughout the year, which take place in the evening.
Date of Board Meetings (January 2024 – December 2024)
Board Meetings: January, April, August, October. Board Briefings (online): March, June, September, December. All dates TBC
Committee of the Boards and meeting dates (January 2024 – December 2024)
We currently have a Resources Committee which meets quarterly (Jan, Apr, July October) and an Advisory Panel for our casework which meets in March and September
