David Tittle has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer for the Heritage Trust Network (HTN) and will join the team at the end of May 2020. The post, mainly funded by Historic England, has been created to deliver the organisation’s ambitions for growth and benefits for its expanding membership.
The Heritage Trust Network is a peer to peer network created to support, encourage and represent community-based charities and social enterprises who are delivering heritage led regeneration projects throughout the UK. It has a membership of over 300 who are all engaged in the rescue, reuse and management of a wide range of heritage buildings, monuments and landscapes.
Liz Bates, Chair of the HTN Board said, “We are delighted to have appointed David at this critical stage of the organisation’s development and at a time when the Network is becoming even more of a lifeline for our members. Over the next year our aims are to strengthen the Network, to ensure our members are equipped to succeed in these challenging circumstances and to deliver high quality learning and capacity building.”
David joins the Heritage Trust Network from Design South East where he was Head of Design Advice. This experience of a charitable organisation with a network of experts in a wide range of disciplines will be incredibly useful in his new role. His expertise will assist the Heritage Trust Network to raise its profile, to identify new opportunities for income generation and to work with the team to offer high quality services to its members.
David said “I am very excited to take up this new challenge, working with the board to lead a growing organisation helping people to take responsibility for the local buildings and landscapes they love. I have been involved in three heritage trusts and can testify to their power to transform people and communities. Once it is possible, I am looking forward to visiting some of the amazing projects our members are working on.”
Historic England has provided funding for this post, initially for a year through the National Capacity Building Programme. Duncan Wilson, Historic England’s Chief Executive, said: “The Heritage Trust Network has an important role to play in sustaining the sector at this challenging time for us all, and Historic England is glad to be able to support it to fulfil that role.
Liz Bates added, “We are incredibly grateful to Historic England for their support of this post and for recognising the importance of maintaining this for the benefit of our members despite the COVID 19 outbreak.”
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Heritage Trust Network, or would like to find out more about its activities, please visit the website www.heritagetrustnetwork.org.uk
NB. The post of Chief Executive is mainly funded by Historic England, but contributions from HTN’s core membership resources will allow the CEO also to work in the other countries of the UK.