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Morning Sam / Issue 258 - Friday26July2013

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/ HEADLINES /
The Heritage Alliance responds to the Farrell Review
In its response to the Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment, The Heritage Alliance has once again made the case for the historic environment as an engine of economic growth.
Contributing £26.37billion to the UK economy annually and supporting 750,000 jobs according to research from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the heritage sector remains one of the country's most valuable resources.
But the Alliance also took the opportunity to call for a new Vision Statement on the Historic Environment for England, setting out the Government's approach to protecting and promoting the sector.
The original, published by the last Government in 2010, emphasised the importance of heritage and stressed considerate development as a key to creating pleasant and productive urban spaces. But the Alliance feels that a new Vision Statement that takes into account the current economic and social context would be a valuable step, giving a categorical statement of the Government's commitment to the historic environment.
Initial results indicate that the Farrell Review has received over 200 responses and that most of these are group submissions representing everything from five to a thousand people.

Giving to Heritage takes off
The independent heritage sector is on the brink of a once in a generation transformation as The Heritage Alliance's Giving to Heritage project moves from aspiration to action.
With almost £500,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Giving to Heritage will deliver over 8,500 training opportunities to empower heritage enthusiasts with the skills and knowhow to improve their fundraising, increase their income and secure their future.
The need has never been greater - HLF has estimated that Government cuts will lead to a £700million a year drop in public investment in heritage across the UK over the next five years. It is essential that every organisation learns how to diversify their income.
The Alliance has welcomed onboard a Development Officer, Gail Caig, who is working up detailed project plans which, if approved by the HLF in autumn, will see the training programme rolling out frmo 2014 to 2016.
But The Alliance needs to hear from the historic environment sector - please see Also This Fortnight below for more details.

Welsh Heritage Bill consultation launched
The Welsh government has launched its consultation on the first proposed legislation on the historic environment specific to Wales.
The future of our past will seek to identify sites of significance, find ways of sustaining that significance and reviewing the organisational framework for historic environment services in Wales
This comes two months after the Scottish government launched a consultation on a proposed Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland.
Wales has 30,000 listed buildings, 4,000 scheduled ancient monuments and 3 World Heritage Sites; over 30,000 people are employed in the historic environment sector and it contributes around £1.8 billion in output and £840 million to Wales’s national gross value added (GVA).
To respond to the consultation click here or see Have Your Say below.

HODs Online Directory now live!
Heritage Open Days has launched its online directory detailing its many activities that will be taking place across the country in the autumn.
Running from 12-15 September, HODs will see thousands of unusual heritage assets throwing their doors open to public, giving people a chance to see a side to their community they may not have experienced before.
Last year was HODs' best ever, with 4,648 properties and events, 51,214 local organisers and helpers and a remarkable 2 million visitors - 99% of whom said they enjoyed the experience.
For more details on what's happening in your area, please click here and to find out how to get involved, click here.

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NEWS /
The Alliance would like to thank all Update subscribers – both from member organisations and individuals – for their support.
For those wishing to become individual supporters of the Alliance and help our efforts to protect the nation’s historic environment, please contact Sam Bradley or Kate Pugh.

LGA says councils should 'make the most' of their heritage
A report from the Local Government Association has shown how councils across the country are making changes to try and safeguard their conservation and historic environment expertise despite cuts in funding.
Making the most of your heritage assets details how some councils have arranged service-level agreements with neighbours to share expertise and advice, while others have engaged with organisations like Preservation Trusts to provide community benefits.
Kate Pugh, Chief Executive of The Heritage Alliance, said "This is an good sign that some councils across the country recognise the value of the historic environment - both to their communities and their local economy - and are taking steps to protect it."

'Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe' kicks off in Brussels
Heritage Alliance’s Chief Executive Kate Pugh joined the other five partners in the European project Cultural Heritage and the EU 2020 Strategy: Towards an integrated approach for the first Steering Committee meeting in Brussels.
This project will gather, analyse, consolidate and widely disseminate the existing data on the impact of cultural heritage on society and the economy. The Alliance is busy filling the project’s dropbox with UK material, contributing to a European mapping of the evidence-based research that has already been carried out at European, national, regional, local and/or sectoral levels.
The project aims to raise greater awareness on the multiple benefits of cultural heritage and present policy recommendations for tapping into heritage’s full potential. To find out more, please click here.

Tate boss calls for 'rebalancing' of philanthropy
Chairman of Tate Lord Browne has used a speech at the Royal Society of Arts to call for a 'rebalancing' between the state and philanthropy.
He argued that taxation was no longer the vehicle by which “some of the greatly needed parts of a civilised society,” can be provided and that philanthropists would be more likely to give if it was clearer what annual government grants to arts organisations are spent on. He also said there needed to be more tax incentives to give, and better systems to make this possible, such as giving by text message.
However, this comes after a new study from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which argues that there should be a 'holistic approach' to the valuation of culture - valuation should not be a ‘one size fits all’ exercise and that economic valuation techniques are appropriate for large-scale investments but not for
small-scale enterprises.

Community Census shows heritage worth more than ever
Charities, religious bodies and heritage buildings will contribute £1 billion more to the UK economy this year than in 2012 as community involvement across the UK grows, according to a new report.
Launched by Alliance sponsor Ecclesiastical Insurance in partnership with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), Community Census also shows an upswing in the number of young people engaging with community organisations - 35% of 18-24 year olds reported a particular interest in increasing their involvement.
The report also shows that almost 70% of UK adults believe that local organisations such as charities, religious groups and heritage sites are important to their local communities.
To see the report in full, please click here.

UK's Favourite Churches
The National Churches Trust, an Alliance member, has celebrated its sixtieth anniversary with testimonies from some of the country's most famous faces about their own favourite church.
The UK's Favourite Churches sees celebrities from Cherie Blair to Bear Grylls tell the story of their favourite church and why it means something to them.
They include everything from Joanna Lumley's nomination of St Brides Fleet Street with its wedding-cake spire and St Endellion's Port Isaac, chosen by Dr Rowan Williams.

UK is 'global youth travel hub'
Historic cities like Cambridge, Oxford and Bath are some of the most popular destinations in the country for young visitng students, according to a new study from the British Educational Travel Association.
Stonehenge, the Cotswolds and the Lake District also got a special mention, contributing to the £20billion that international students contribute to the UK economy every year.
The report also mentions that 75% of all international students are female and that 95% of those surveyed said that they would recommend a visit to the UK to family or friends.

Pickles issues stop notice on Liverpool Welsh Streets development
Plans to demolish nearly six hectares of Victorian terraced houses in Liverpool have been temporarily halted after Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles directly intervened, issuing an Article 25 stop notice.
Under the scheme, 280 properties would have been demolished to make way for 154 new homes, while some 37 more - including the childhood home of Beatle Ringo Starr - would have been refurbished. The project was seen as a continuation of the previous government's controversial Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders; public-private partnerships aimed at redeveloping 'blighted' areas in Northern cities.
SAVE Britain's Heritage, an Alliance member, vigorously opposed the development, arguing that the council's decision ran against government policy to build more homes and refurbish empty ones.
Under the stop notice, the Secretary of State has twenty-one days to decide if he will call in the scheme for a public inquiry. For more information, please click here.

Stirling Prize - nominations
Two properties belonging to Alliance members have been nominated for the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture.
The Landmark Trust's Astley Castle in Warwickshire is a modern house built within the ruins of a 12th-Century fortified manor that was damaged by fire in 1978.
It is up against, among others, the National Trust's new visitor's centre at the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland - as well as Newhall Be, an experimental housing development in Harlow, Essex. The winner will be announced on 26 September.

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ALSO THIS FORTNIGHT /
Giving to Heritage needs YOU
The Heritage Alliance has teamed up with the Institute of Fundraising to deliver Giving to Heritage, a top quality training programme. But input from those in the historic environment sector is vital to ensure that it meets the sector's needs.
Please click here to fill out a quick and simple online survey that takes just 5 minutes to complete. Please fill it in and promote it to your membership, networks and friends. It is crucial that as many people as possible share their views with us so we can make the most of this fantastic opportunity.

IfA Annual Conference - Call for sessions
The Institute for Archaeologists is looking for session proposals which consider the theme of Research in practice for our 2014 conference in Glasgow next April.
Sessions should aim to be half day in length and can comprise traditional papers, discussion seminars or training workshops. Not all sessions have to fit into the theme, so if you do have some creative and engaging ideas for sessions which fall outside of the main focus, please send them in. Proposal forms can be found here.
The deadline for proposals is 31 July 2013. Please email your session or workshop proposal form to Amanda Forster.

National Museum Director Council - what are your views?
The National Museum Directors' Council has launched a survey concerning their newsletter to see what should remain the same and what should alter in the format.
The NMDC would very much appreciate a few more views from regular readers - whether you are someone who reads the whole thing, or just scans the headlines looking for stories that grab you. They paying close attention to the balance of views, which will shape how the newsletter is written for the next two or three years.
To fill out the short online survey, please click here.

Scoping the Leadership Skills Needs of Cultural Leaders/Aspiring Leaders in England
The Clore Leadership Programme, with funding from Arts Council England, has commissioned an independent research study for the cultural sector with the aim of understanding the skills and development needs of leaders and aspiring cultural leaders in England. The study focuses on identifying the areas in which leaders and aspiring leaders feel they need training and development, and explores the gaps and barriers to engaging in current provision.
A core element of the study is a survey of current and aspiring leaders in the cultural sector. The results of the study will be shared with the cultural sector and a high response rate is essential to ensure that the findings are of value to the sector.
If you are working in England in a leadership role, or aspiring to do so, and want to have your say, then please click here.

Village Halls and Public Buildings: The importance of the historic environment
English Heritage has commissioned a project examining the historic importance of village halls and rural community buildings. The work is intended to encourage communities to research and value their buildings, alongside providing case studies that demonstrate good practice and show that listing need not preclude new uses and services.