The Waltham Abbey Historical Society is typical. Sadly, I see little prospect of local societies being reinvigorated with large numbers of new young members. In the 1970s, if we advertised for volunteers for our digs, people came from all over the country. Nowadays, if we advertise, we get little serious response - although the experience of other societies may be different. I genuinely believe young people are largely not interested in archaeology any more.
Many local societies are also hopelessly short of money.
The Waltham Abbey Historical Society, with about 200 subscribing members, is relatively well off, having had a windfall in the 1970s, which now produces a small but steady income. Many local societies, however, are much worse off than we are, having to resort to jumble sales and the like to raise money for basic equipment. But even at Waltham Abbey we are largely unable to afford to take advantage of modern technological developments. Hiring geophysical survey equipment, for instance, would be way beyond our reach, even though the technology has revolutionised fieldwork elsewhere. The debilitating effects of poverty amongst local societies can only be relieved if the national institutions step in.