What families found when the boxes were finally in order.

We had boxes from three different houses — my late father's home, my aunt's flat and a storage unit the family had been renting for about ten years without anyone checking what was actually inside. The session took about two and a half hours and we came away with a master sheet that listed everything in plain language. I handed it to my brother the next day and he could navigate it without asking me a single question.

The digitisation project took about five weeks, which was slightly longer than I expected, but the condition assessment at the start explained why — some of the land documents from the 1960s needed more careful handling before they could be put through the scanner. The resulting files are clear enough to read text that I couldn't make out on the originals. The index is structured well and I can find anything in about thirty seconds.

We are in the second year of the Heritage Programme and the quarterly review meetings have made a real difference to how the family keeps up with the record. The oral session at the end of the first year captured things about some of the older documents that only my mother knew — details about which plot of land was sold when and who the original purchaser was. That kind of context isn't something you get from looking at a scan.

What I valued most was the written referral note at the end of the storage map session. There were two items that the consultant flagged as likely needing a solicitor's attention. She wrote down exactly what category each item appeared to be and the type of professional to consult. I didn't feel rushed or pressured — just clear about what to do next.

I was uncertain at first about giving up the originals for the scanning project — some of those documents have been in the family since before I was born. The custody record that Pusaka Works put in place for the collection and return made me more comfortable. Everything came back in better condition than it left, and the before-and-after photographs are a useful comparison.

The Heritage Programme suited us because the family's papers are spread across properties in three states and the process has taken longer than a single project would cover. The fact that the master index is updated and reissued every quarter means the record stays current. The handover pack at the end of the year is something I can actually give to my eldest daughter so she understands the system.