Kate Hawkey and Helen Snelson, who have both worked for many years in initial teacher education, wanted to find ways of supporting recently qualified teachers in continuing to develop their practice. Working in two different parts of the country, they established different kinds of informal, but well-focused history-specific, support groups. Their aims in each case were to provide inspiration, opportunities for professional learning and a strong sense of community in tackling the challenges that they all faced.  Here they explain how the two different groups worked and what they achieved, offering models that they hope will inspire others to build effective local history teacher networks, committed not just to teacher retention, but to engagement, excitement and growth...