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Our funding has provided a host of new opportunities for people from all backgrounds to be involved in heritage. We have:
motivated young and old to explore their pasts;
mobilised communities to appreciate & enhance their environment;
reached every corner of the UK;
connected people and communities to their roots;
saved countless treasures for future generations.
Over eleven years our approach has broadened the social base for the enjoyment of heritage so that, according to the think tank Demos, ‘There is now an acknowledged diversity of contributions to the national story.’
Connecting communities
Our heritage has shaped the places where we live and our sense of who we are. Yet economic and social changes mean that people across Britain can struggle to reconnect with their sense of identity and place. We have helped hundreds of different organisations – including Age Concern, Wellingborough District Racial Equality Council, the Women’s Institute and the Maharaja Duleep Singh Centenary Trust – to research and share their history.
Involving young people
These are tomorrow’s curators, conservators and champions of heritage. By funding projects inspired by and led by young people themselves, the £5 million a year we have committed to our Young Roots programme, run in partnership with the National Youth Agency, is ensuring that the UK’s heritage continues to change lives and remains relevant to a new generation.
‘You can’t bring in the new and forget the old. You don’t know about the future if there is no past to see where you are coming from.’
Rania (17), Thames Gateway Youth Consultation, 2004-2005
Encouraging volunteering
Many historic sites, collections and landscapes around the UK depend on volunteers. Our awards have generated over a million hours of volunteer time for wildlife trust projects. We accept volunteer labour as match funding, making
it easier for voluntary groups to apply to us. And we have championed volunteering through our support for the Russell Commission’s initiative to encourage more young volunteers.
‘I really enjoy the atmosphere working at Holton Lee… A big achievement for us was to build tracks for disabled people, by disabled people!’
Volunteer on the project Access All Areas, Holton Lee
Breaking down barriers
We have helped thousands of organisations throughout the UK to enhance access to heritage – not just by removing physical obstacles, but by addressing the whole range of cultural, economic, social and intellectual barriers that can exclude people. Our funding for the repair of historic buildings has resulted in improved access for thousands of disabled people. £12 million has gone to projects which have directly involved disabled people, with organisations such as Mencap, Scope, the National Library for the Blind and Stockton Shopmobility all leading heritage projects with our funding.
‘No other mainstream organisation has done as much to promote and deliver equality that makes such a difference to disabled people’s quality of life.’
Vision Sense: Disability, Equality and Inclusion Conference North East 2005 |
