The South East has over 160 film archives and collections which celebrate our past and contain hugely valuable items. In 2007 the government announced that it would give £25 million over 3 years towards Screen Heritage, guided by the newly established UK Film Heritage Group. This was in response to a year long consultation after the UK wide Screen Heritage Strategy was published.

The strategy sets out to:

• Address immediate funding deficiencies in the sector, migitating the risk of loss of key screen heritage material and thus safeguarding this heritage
• Restructure support for the sector to secure the skills and organisational infrastructure necessary to care for the heritage
• Create a critical mass of digitised material and the digital infrastructure required to deliver the vision by ensuring the widest possible access for the public