Hello everyone;

Thank you so much for all your support! We're now well over halfway towards our crowdfunder target, with some good news in the background in our quest for the full figure, too. So it's all looking good!

We have been moved to a bigger room for our Festival of Ideas session here in York on Sunday afternoon, 4-5 pm, so that means there are now more tickets available if you'd like to join me in a talk about the archive with some sneak peeks at the joys within.

And, as donors, we thought you should know first that there'll be a special surprise at the end, as we are going to include a live performance by the brilliant Richard Usher, reviving a long-lost Goon Show sketch written for Peter Sellers by Galton and Simpson—unperformed for over 70 years and absent from the broadcast archive. Richard has performed in live Goon Show stage performances, and we have a fantastic sound design (with music and effects) - be there if you can, it's as close as you'll get to the real thing!

More details and free tickets here: https://yorkfestivalofideas.com/2025/calendar/hancock-steptoe/

And in case you missed it, here's the ITV News segment on our project, which features some shots of the wonders in the archive (and our own Keeper of Archives and Research Collections, too!)

Thank you so much!

We just passed our first major milestone - we've raised £1000 toward the archive's purchase, and it's all down to you and your generosity. We have had a load of interest in the project already, with the news hitting the headlines in the 'And finally...' slot on News at Ten last night.

Please do keep spreading the word to others who might donate (and you can claim Gift Aid!), we're making huge strides towards our target. Thank you!