Since 2019 Hackney Archives have been working with the An Việt Archives committee and Hackney Chinese Community Services (now ESEACC) to support efforts to preserve and activate the archive. Thanks to a collective grant from the Government’s Archives Recovery Grant that was administered by the National Archives, AVA and HCCS were able to rescue and stabilise the collections from the Old Bath House. This work involved conservation work on the badly damaged material to make it safe for public access.
During this time HCCS established the voluntary AVA Steering Committee to use the funds to protect the repository – with Hackney Archives as the designated, public home for the archive. Alongside a group of volunteers who worked tirelessly in the early stages of sorting through the documents, staff members Diana Le, project coordinator, and Dr Etienne Joseph, manager of Hackney Archives, have been key advocates who helped the AVA advance its aims.