Updated: 21 June, 2005
© RESCUE

Enhancing the role of RESCUE members
in campaigning to protect archaeology

Ever since it's establishment, RESCUE has been at the forefront of efforts to protect and preserve Britain's archaeological heritage. Acting alone and in co-operation with other bodies, the organisation has represented the views of members and has fought for improvements in the statutory protection of buildings, archaeological sites and landscapes. There is no sign that the need for RESCUE is diminishing; indeed, with the rapid pace of development generally and the persistence of threats to specific sites and landscapes, there is every sign that the need for the organisation is increasing. For this reason the RESCUE council feel that there is a need to make provision for a greater input by members into the campaigns mounted by RESCUE.

The degree of success achieved by campaigns such as those to save the Newport ship and to oppose the destruction of the St Pancras cemetery make it clear that, while there is still an important role for the Council in representing the views of members in areas such as liaison with the APPAG, English Heritage, the DCMS and so on, campaigns in support of specific sites and monuments and in opposing the closure of local museums, archaeological units and heritage services campaigns may be significantly enhanced if they are actively supported by the membership.

Such support is best demonstrated by direct contact between individuals and their elected representatives at all levels. For this reason we are proposing to create a mechanism which will allow the Council to improve contact with members when local and regional issues arise which demand a rapid response. At present, RESCUE maintains a list of the names and addresses of members which is used to send out RESCUE NEWS and other mailings. We would like to enhance this by adding the e-mail addresses of members so that we can contact you directly with information regarding specific campaigns or threats to the archaeology of your local area. E-mail has many advantages in this respect, the principal one being that it is extremely cheap and very efficient in terms of the time required to send out information.

We are not proposing that this be any sort of requirement of membership, but rather that it offer those members who wish to become active in letter writing and similar campaigns the opportunity to add their weight to that of the Council in opposing the destruction of the archaeological heritage of the country. Politicians, whether local or national, are susceptible to the power of popular opinion; twenty letters on a subject from voters in a county, district, town or city may add significantly to the effect of a campaign which attracts letters from the Chair of RESCUE, the C.B.A or similar bodies.

As with our ordinary mailing list, we naturally undertake not to disclose e-mail addresses to any third party and certainly have no intention of selling such information (as is done by some organisations). The intention is that in the face of a threat such as that recently faced by the people of Newport, we will be able to contact you rapidly with all the salient facts of the case, background information and suggestions as to who you might best write to in order to express your views.

If the E-mail scheme is successful, then we will look at the possibility of extending it to include a similar scheme using the conventional postal system (bearing on mind the considerably increased cost of undertaking frequent postal mailings). The intention is not to create a 'two-tier' membership; we value and need those members who provide support through subscriptions and donations and fully understand that many of you have other commitments which preclude greater involvement. We hope, however, to enhance the role of RESCUE by enabling those of you who wish to be involved in this way to be so.

If you would like to have your e-mail address added to our membership list for this purpose, please contact the Secretary, Chris Cumberpatch, via cgc@ccumberpatch.freeserve.co.uk with the words 'RESCUE Member' in the 'subject' line of the message. If you could include your full address in the message that would be helpful. The threats to out fragile archaeological heritage have never been greater - we hope that this scheme will be instrumental in making the voice of RESCUE louder in its defence.