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This three year project focused on the National Trust’s properties at Ham House (Richmond-upon-Thames), Morden Hall Park (Merton), Osterley Park (Hounslow) and Sutton House (Hackney), and five primary schools local to them. The partnership has been central to a family learning action research project, which has used focused arts activities, new cultural research, training, and the development of new interpretation, in order to discover the best family learning practice in a heritage setting.

The National Trust protects and opens to the public over 300 historic houses and gardens and 49 industrial monuments and mills. It is a charity with 3.5m members and 52,000 volunteers.

More than 12m people visit the National Trust’s pay for entry properties, while an estimated 50 million visit the open air properties.

• To increase the capacity of London properties to engage meaningfully, with family users who are either: black or from an ethnic minority; on low incomes; or have been disenfranchised from formal education.
• To encourage family visitors to make a connection with and celebrate our heritage.
• To influence cultural change within the National Trust, whereby diversity in all aspects of the organisation is valued.

In addition, there were several objectives to achieve these aims:

• Establish sustainable, mutually beneficial partnerships with learning providers local to the target London properties.
• Develop interpretative creative projects to be experienced by property visitors and users.
• Undertake research and audit programmes to reveal the cultural breadth of each of the properties.
• Diversify volunteers’ roles and open up volunteer opportunities for groups not currently represented.
• Develop new interpretation, with hands on / interactive in learning style to appeal to family audiences.
• Train staff and volunteers to effectively engage with family audiences.
• Establish mechanism to share lessons learned within the National Trust and the wider heritage sector.

• The London Voices team supported an experiential learning approach, which allowed property staff to experiment and take risks. New learning was applied and tested throughout the project.
• Knowledge of the properties was broadened through a programme of new cultural research, which fed into creative projects. The research opened up the history of the properties to international connections and significant local themes.
• New property interpretation was launched, with the families acting as designers, makers, testers and consultants.

• More than 14,000 visits were made to London Voices events and activities.
• 218 volunteers got involved, of which 77 were new volunteers. New models of volunteering linked to local colleges brought in a group of younger and more ethnically diverse volunteers.
• A new model of volunteering was introduced through student placements, existing volunteers were given opportunities to broaden their own skills.
• The creative projects provided inspiring and supportive space for families to learn together.
• Individuals in families who found formal education challenging were able to learn through the creative approaches offered.
• Staff and volunteers learned engagement and research skills, families learned creative and communications skills, and artists and teachers extended their knowledge of the heritage sector.

• Inviting participants personally and consistently, and paying attention to details which make them feel welcome, create the right conditions for the activities to work well.
• Using the arts, and imaginative responses, as well as broadening the stories told about the property, can reveal a greater variety of contract points and a sense of discovery for all ages.
• Activities need to be designed so that all the family members can participate fully. To make a property family friendly it requires: staff who are equipped to interact with children; activities that enable families to handle objects; special family eating facilities; opportunities to play outside; and activities that are fun for families to do together
• A variety of skills are beneficial, including good communication, strong creative skills, team work, knowledge of the property, and a real interest in people. These may not all come from one person, and the presence of all the partners (school, property, artist or facilitator) is important.
• Working with a small group over an extended period of time, provides a rich source of learning for the property. This learning can then be extended to the general visitor.
• Partnerships need care and maintenance. They are only ‘real’ when there is a joint interest and all parties are benefitting.
• Sharing visits between the school and the property allows both partners to be host and guest, and strengthens the role of the property in the local community. Project outreach included sessions in schools, visits to assemblies, parent’s evenings and community events. They raise the profile of the property, and help staff and volunteers get to know their local audience much better.
• Interpretation activities and resources that have been created and tested with families will extend a property’s ability to be family-friendly to all visitors.
• Single free open days could not overcome economic and emotional access barriers to the properties.

• The project has shown the effectiveness of a particular way of working which is democratic, partnership focused and outward looking. The methodology of working with a small group of people intensively continues to have a positive impact on wider family visitors.
• The project helped the properties to become more a part of the local community and the local community to become more a part of them.
• It brought new audiences through visitors, participants and volunteers.
• Families who had never visited their local property before and thought it was irrelevant to them, reported an increased sense of connection with the property and with their local communities. A few families became NT members, and many became involved in family volunteering opportunities with the properties or within schools.
• The project supported new family friendly initiatives and interpretations, which will keep participating families connected, and increase the accessibility and enjoyment of what is on offer for all families.
• Evidence of economic barriers to joining the National Trust is informing research into a reduced cost local membership scheme.

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