Heritage Trust Network is delighted to announce that, thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we will shortly be launching the development phase of an exciting new project to support our members: Essential Networks.
Essential Networks is a major development and resilience project for Heritage Trust Network, our members and UK heritage. It will help us to significantly enhance our support to small and medium sized community-led heritage organisations and encourage peer to peer learning throughout our Network.
Heritage Trust Network has been awarded a development grant of £208,943 from the Heritage Fund which will enable the Network to develop existing and new events and services for the community heritage sector and pilot them over the next 15 months. There will be open and structured learning events and more opportunities for members to network online and in-person. The project will allow us to review how we support and communicate with our members and the wider sector and develop new fee-earning services. It will enable us to undertake a pilot outreach project, supporting community organisations that have taken over historic buildings and conduct an ‘impact survey’ of our members so we can better communicate to funders, local and national government, and other stakeholders, about all the fantastic work they do.
The research and piloting activity carried on during the development phase will enable the Network to submit a ‘delivery phase’ bid to the Heritage Fund for activity over the following four years potentially unlocking around £1.25m in income for the Network.
Network Chief Executive, David Tittle said: “Essential Networks will be a massive step up for Heritage Trust Network. Support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund over the past three years has enabled a transformation in how our Network supports its members. But it has also highlighted opportunities to do so much more.
Community-led heritage organisations have incredible potential in terms of widening engagement with heritage, creating better places to live and rescuing heritage at risk. It is this part of the sector which also faces the greatest challenges. Essential Networks is about creating a level playing field; ensuring that the community heritage sector has the same access to expertise, learning and other resources that are available to larger organisations, statutory bodies and private owners of heritage sites.
We are pleased that The National Lottery Heritage Fund has backed our vision for our Network and the sector and grateful to National Lottery players for enabling this project to happen.”
