About Us

The Friends of the Durham County Record Office (FODCRO) was formed in 2001 with the following aims:

• To promote and encourage public interest in the history of Durham County.
• To promote the preservation, security and accessibility of relevant archival material.
• To promote public awareness of the work of Durham County Record Office.
• To support the Record Office in identifying and obtaining external funds for the benefit of users.
• To assist the Record Office staff in the maintenance and improvement of archival services and facilities.
• To co-ordinate voluntary help in support of the Record Office, in conjunction with the staff.

FODCRO has a small but effective Management Committee which meets regularly at County Hall, Durham. An open Annual General Meeting is held in October each year. We will consider applying for charitable status when we feel it is appropriate.

Every member receives a Newsletter, currently issued twice a year and covering an excellent range of topics, a copy of a list of Members’ Interests and the opportunity to submit Interests of their own. All members are also asked to put forward nominations to the AGM for Officer posts and Committee members, and, if they wish, to produce articles for the Newsletter.

Our membership, which extends as far afield as Australia and North America, exceeds 100 and, as a young and developing organisation, we are confident of our numbers continuing to grow.

FODCRO has already contributed both voluntary efforts and funds towards increasing the accessibility of genealogical information within the Record Office and is actively working towards improving access to former Coal Board records. In addition we are currently fundraising to purchase a collection of diaries and scrapbooks relating to the Shafto family (of Bobby Shafto fame) and a collection of photographs relating to railway stations in the North East. We are determined to continually assist the County Record Office and its staff in any way feasible. In doing so we will also assist the users of the data and services of the Record Office.

In producing geneaological indexes we are able to offer them in microfiche format for sale. Members can buy these at a discounted rate.

Our annual fees are currently:

	UK Price	Overseas Price
Individual	�5.00	�6.00
Family	�7.00	�8.00
Organisations	�13.00	�16.00

If you wish to join us please make cheques payable to FODCRO and send them to:
FODCRO
c/o Durham County Record Office
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UL