Heritage Day 2024 took place on 7th March at the historic St. John’s Church Waterloo. Nearly 300 Heritage leaders, professionals and volunteers gathered online and in-person to engage with panels, workshops, case studies, keynote speeches and an awards ceremony all focused on the theme of ‘The Power of Collaboration’.
Dr Ingrid Samuel OBE, Acting Chair of the Heritage Alliance, opened the day:
“Every year, Heritage Day is an excellent occasion to celebrate the passion and dedication of those who work to promote, preserve, and advocate for the wider historic environment. This year, in a challenging financial climate and with an election on the horizon, the opportunity to come together has never been more important. Now in our 21st year, it has been my pleasure as Acting Chair to focus Heritage Day 2024 on collaboration, drawing out key insights and exploring new perspectives on how we can continue working together for our shared priorities.”
Part 1: The Big Picture
Starting off proceedings, Vicar Reverend Giles Goddard introduced the history and development of the venue, St John’s Waterloo, which epitomises the role of heritage places and Places of Worship at the heart of community. A place of connection and outreach, the Grade II* church in the heart of the city was transformed by a £5.5m project in 2022, culminating in a vibrant hub.
The Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay delivered a keynote speech to the sector. Speaking ahead of the event, he said:
“I am very glad to be attending Heritage Day and to have the opportunity to engage with so many of the brilliant people who work and volunteer across the country to celebrate, protect, and share our extraordinary heritage.
“The Heritage Alliance does amazing work bringing people together to share ideas and insights, champion our heritage heroes, and speak with a strong voice about what the sector needs – for the sake of the millions of people who benefit from its work today, as well as for the sake of future generations.”
Read the Heritage Minister’s Speech Here
Closing Part 1, A dynamic ‘Heritage Hustings’ saw representatives from across the political spectrum look ahead to the general election and discuss the place of heritage in their party’s vision. ‘Finding Common Ground’ welcomed representatives from the creative industries, construction and environmental sectors to discuss how heritage can add value to growth industries and support public policy priorities.
Watch the Heritage Hustings Online Here
Part 2: Skills and Stories
In this extended freeform session, delegates had the opportunity to choose from an array of workshops, tours and networking sessions, including workshops on partnerships, advocacy, fundraising, and governance. These sessions were led by leaders within the industry who shared their expertise and provided advice and insights for the sector to learn from. Sessions included:
- Heritage Pulse – Your voice heard: Partnership Working in the Heritage Sector
- Workshop: Advocacy 101
- HedX: Spotlight on Heritage Alliance Members
- Church and Garden Tour: Creating Communities Through Collaboration
- In Conversation: Partnerships and Fundraising
- Workshop: Time to Rethink Governance?
Heritage Pulse: Partnership Working
This session was led by Flor Carr, Associate Director of Indigo; Robin Cantrill-Fenwick, CEO of Baker Richards; and Tom Bilson, Head of Digital Media at The Courtauld Institute of Art. UK Heritage Pulse, a collaborative data and insight project created by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, shared more than two years of research about the need to create stronger partnerships within the heritage sector. The team shared the story of The Courtauld’s transformational Digitisation Volunteer Project which shone a light on this need.
Workshop: Advocacy 101
The Heritage Alliance’s own Head of Policy Lydia Gibson and the DCMS’ Head of Heritage Sponsorship and Engagement Christabel Austen rshared how heritage organisations can utilise their voices for positive change and to champion the value of heritage in an election year. The session explored the fundamentals of engaging different types of decision-makers and the key tools organisations can use to get their message across.
HedX: Heritage Alliance Members
This session put a spotlight on case studies from Heritage Alliance members utilising the power of partnerships and the benefits of collaboration through a community and international lens. It was chaired by Kate Streeter, Head of Development and Communications at The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and featured case studies shared by Gareth Maeer, Director of Development at Raybel Charters; William Heath, Co-Chair of Fairfield House; and Ellie Oliver, Communications Manager at the International National Trusts Organisation.
Church and Garden Tour: Creating Communities
Abigail Tripp, the Outreach, Engagement, and Development Co-ordinator at St John’s Church, Waterloo gave insight into St Johns’ community and outreach work, during a walking tour of the Church and the Octavia Hills Gardens. She was joined by volunteers and students who enagage with the church’s outreach work to share their own experience with the charity and its impact on the community.
Partnerships and Funding
Chaired by James Probert, Director of Development at Historic Houses, this panel with Ros Kerslake CBE, Chair of the Architectural Heritage Fund and Danny Bennett, Managing Director at Farcroft Group explored partnerships and fundraising. The panel discussed how partnerships can advance fundraising efforts and unlock creativity, innovation and solutions that wouldn’t be possible without different perspectives.
Workshop: Time to Rethink Governance?
With governance under increased pressure: tight finances, growing regulation, and volunteer trustees, are we spending time on the most important things? Minerva Search explored some of these dynamics and the potential of exploring new ways of working, led by Ben Rucket, Partner; Jemica Taylor, Senior Researcher; and Alasdair Redwood, Researcher.
Part 3: Future-Ready Heritage
In this session, presentations, panels, and Q&A sessions surveyed what the future holds in the heritage industry, and what innovation, inclusivity, and collaboration means for the sustainability of heritage.
Unlocking Innovation
This panel explored innovative opportunities for heritage organisations to unlock new ways of thinking and working beyond their ‘comfort zone’, sharing insights from projects forging new links with STEM education, business developments, and interdisciplinary research, chaired by Dr Chandan Mahal, National Learning and Partnership Manager at The British Library, joined by Jan Wills, Chair of Oxford Archaeology; Dr Jessica Stitt, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Associate with the Churches Conservation Trust; and Dr Dominique Bouchard, Head of Learning and Interpretation at English Heritage.
Opening Up the Sector
This panel looked at the benefits of collaboration and new perspectives to help the sector become more accessible, attracting new audiences and diversifying its workforce. It was chaired by Stephen Oates, Chief Executive of the Heritage Railway Association, and joined by Moe Horikawa, Investment Manager at NLHF and Trustee of Historic Buildings & Places; Steven Mifsud MBE, Director and Founder of Direct Access Group; Karis Morris-Brown, Workforce Development Manager at Black Cultural Archives; and George Knight, Youth Advisor at the Council for British Archaeology.
Future Planning
This session presented Ecclesiastical Insurance’s latest research to understand the risks the sector faces over the next year and what it can do to manage and mitigate those threats. Laura Carter, Customer Segment Director at Ecclesiastical focused on people, financial, and climate risks to take a deeper dive into how some organisations are tackling risks, as well as sharing thoughts for support and collaboration.
Part 4: Championing the Sector
Keynote Address
In our 2024 Heritage Day Keynote, the Chair of Historic England, Lord Neil Mendoza CBE shared reflections on the value of heritage and the role of Historic England in delivering meaningful change for the sector:
“The heritage sector thrives through collective action and the power of collaboration – together, and with people and places. There is increasing recognition of the vital importance of heritage and culture for the nation – for economic growth, jobs, places, for our well-being and, of course, for our happiness. Creativity and heritage go hand in hand to foster pride in place, connect communities and boost economic growth.”
Ecclesiastical Heritage Heroes Awards
Watch the Heritage Heroes Nominations Video Here
The day culminated with the presentation of the annual Ecclesiastical Heritage Heroes Awards, now in its 14th year, which celebrates the significant contribution of heritage volunteers. The winners were:
The Ecclesiastical Heritage Hero 2023 Award: Tyne Theatre & Opera House Performance Research Volunteers
This award recognises the volunteers who gathered and reviewed over 23,000 images of newspaper adverts, programmes and day-bills to create a performance database covering 52 years of the Tyne Theatre & Opera House’s history. The database is a valuable resource for theatre history scholars and is also informing Tyne Theatre & Opera House’s planned theatre development.
Rachel Snap of Tyne Theatre and Opera House said:
“We’re delighted that our volunteers have been recognised for their work on Tyne Theatre & Opera House’s performance calendar. Between them, they have dedicated over 1200 hours of research, and in turn brought to light decades of our theatre’s rich and varied history. We are so very grateful to them for their commitment to this project.”
The Ecclesiastical Heritage Collaboration 2023 Award: Clifton Suspension Bridge Volunteer Hard Hat Tour Guides
This award recognises the volunteers who lead hard hat tours into the Leigh Woods Abutments – a series of twelve vaulted chambers supporting the structure of Brunel’s Victorian suspension bridge. Volunteers have researched and created props to bring the story to life and their enthusiasm and dedication led to visitor numbers doubling.
Laura Hilton of Clifton Suspension Bridge Volunteer Hard Hat Tour Guides stated:
“We are absolutely delighted to have won the Heritage Heroes Award! The Clifton Suspension Bridge Hard Hat Volunteer team put a lot of time and effort into developing their knowledge of the bridge’s history, engineering and geology and work hard to share the vaults with a wide range of people. The team do everything from helping visitors to overcome their vertigo to explaining how stalactites are formed and answering technical questions from professional engineers! This kind of recognition is a celebration of the work of our incredible team and all of the individual achievements which led to a record breaking 2023 season!”
Lizzie Glithero-West, CEO of the Heritage Alliance, said:
“It’s a pleasure, yet again, to see such a high-quality and diverse range of nominees for an award that celebrates the commitment and passion of volunteers in the heritage sector. These projects are driven on voluntary effort and are achieving incredible things in conserving, celebrating and opening-up special places to new audiences. We’re grateful for Ecclesiastical’s continued support for these special awards and congratulations go to the winners, alongside all those nominated, for their hard work and dedication.”
Heritage Day 2024 was open to all those with an interest in heritage through the generous support of Ecclesiastical Insurance (our Corporate Partner), Farcroft Restorations Group (our Headline Sponsor), and our Programme Sponsors (Minerva, UK Heritage Pulse, The Architectural Heritage Fund, and Direct Access).
