Annual Review 2013–14 Chairman’S Foreword
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ANNUAL REVIEW 2013–14 CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD The purposes of the Architectural Heritage Fund, and the ways in which it meets its objectives, are straightforward. It supports the sustainable re-use of historic buildings, bringing social, economic and cultural benefits to communities, by providing loans, grants and advice. Never has the need for our support been more apparent. We are working in a climate which often makes conservation very hard going, not just for us but for all our partners. In this situation we have to be more vigilant to our cause and good humour to our than ever about how we use our resources. meetings. We greatly appreciate his seven During the last year the AHF has carried out years of hard work for the AHF. Malcolm reviews of all our main areas of work. It has Crowder has retired after 20 years on the been reassuring to find that those to whom Council of the AHF, but will continue his work we make grants and loans are very clear that as an exceptionally creative conservation our role is highly valued, but they would like practitioner, both as project manager and us to be able to do more to help them. This is advisor, with an extraordinary ability to find partly because the context of austerity makes solutions for the most intractable problem the task of conservation and regeneration properties. Tom Lloyd, whose knowledge of particularly testing. We are trying to find new all aspects of the heritage of Wales has been solutions for historic buildings at risk; and of great benefit to the AHF, has also retired. new ways of making resources go further. He will be succeeded on the Council by Richard Keen. Our thanks go to all of them. When the whole sector is finding it difficult to achieve all we want to do, it is particularly We were saddened to hear of the death of important that our organisation and staffing Roy Worskett, who served the AHF admirably structure are as effective as we can make as a Trustee for 23 years from 1977–2000. them. The Council of Management is reviewing the AHF’s cost base and looking at Just as this Annual Review was being ways to reduce our overheads. We have also sent to print our Chief Executive, Ian Lush, consulted our clients about which aspects announced his departure from the AHF of our grants and loans programmes might after 11 years, as he is going to lead the be improved. And we have looked again Imperial College Healthcare Charity from at the way we govern ourselves. These the beginning of December. Ian has made different reviews all relate to and support not only a valuable contribution to the work each other. Our aim is to ensure that we of the AHF, but also to the wider heritage are able to achieve more, often with less. sector. He has our thanks and best wishes. I am extremely grateful to members of the We hope to have his successor in post Council and to staff for the way they have early in 2015. taken on a great deal of extra work. We aim to ensure that the AHF can Our funders continue to give us vital support, continue to contribute to the enrichment and we would like to thank the four national of communities, by helping to rescue and bodies – English Heritage, Historic Scotland, re-use historic building in ways that are Cadw and the Northern Ireland Environment imaginative, practical and sustainable. Agency – as well as the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, the J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust and the Pilgrim Trust. The confidence they show in us owes much to those who have led the AHF in recent years. I am most grateful to our former Chairman, Merlin Waterson John Townsend, who retired last March. Chairman TOP: Fairfield Shipbuilding Offices (p.24) He brought an infectious commitment October 2014 ABOVE: Unity House (p.18) 1 Penicuik House (p.27) CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW This will be my final article for the Architectural Heritage Fund’s Annual Review because I leave the AHF at the end of November, after exactly 11 years, to take up the position of Chief Executive of the Imperial College Healthcare Charity. It is therefore an opportunity to look back at some of the AHF’s achievements since 2003, to think about what has changed in the heritage sector and to identify some trends moving forward. Reading the first Annual Review piece I wrote, in Autumn 2004, it is interesting to see the aspirations the AHF had ten years ago, and also that many of the issues I was writing about then are still just as relevant to the sector. One of our main aims at that time was to broaden our client base, seeking to work with non-specialist community groups and encourage them to consider historic buildings as a potential location for their activities and services. This has certainly been one of our success stories, shown by the range of organisations in this year’s Review – from long-standing building preservation trusts such as the Arkwright Society and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust to charities active in a different sector, such as Youthscape in Luton and Age UK in Oldham. The AHF’s involvement in the development bodies do think about the transfer of … we have been of community asset transfer over the last assets in a positive way, rather than seeing decade has also been important. This dates this as an opportunity to dump unwanted working with groups back to late 2005 when I was invited to join liabilities from their estates on to third taking advantage the work group set up by David Miliband, sector organisations. then a Minister in the Office of the Deputy of the new powers Prime Minister, to look at the idea of One of the most important ways in which in the Localism Act, transferring more buildings, land and the AHF has developed its own activities services from the public to the third sector. since 2003 has been the partnerships we and in particular This led to the Quirk Review and the have formed across the UK. These have the community government’s response to it in Spring 2007, included ones with government – such and eventually to new funding becoming as our (continuing) management on behalf right to bid … available to support asset transfer, along of the Northern Ireland Environment with the establishing of the Asset Transfer Agency of the Acquisition Grants scheme Unit (ATU). I was Deputy Chair of the ATU’s for buildings at risk in Northern Ireland, Stakeholder Group and subsequently our partnership with English Heritage and asked by the DCLG and Locality to Chair the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation the Community Ownership Forum. Alongside this we have been working with groups taking advantage of the new powers in the Localism Act, and in particular the community right to bid, and the success of projects such as the Ivy House in South- East London has been very encouraging, though there is still more to do in ensuring ABOVE: Severndroog Castle (p.15) that local authorities and other public LEFT: Unity House (p.18) 3 to run the Challenge Fund, working with Another area in which the AHF has Historic Scotland on the buildings at risk expanded its remit has been our involvement initiative there, and the ongoing Cold Spots in industry-wide initiatives. I was pleased initiative which has been supported by to serve for six years on the board of the English Heritage, the J Paul Getty Jr Heritage Alliance, for much of that time as Charitable Trust and the Pilgrim Trust. In Deputy Chair, and through the Alliance to Wales we have worked closely with Cadw devise and then direct Discovering Places, and, through my membership of the Historic which brought the built, historic and natural Environment Group, the Welsh Assembly environments together for a major project Government, and are hoping to build on this in the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Another area through the new heritage bill and associated More recently the Heritage Investment in which the AHF opportunities as they arise. Working Group, which I chair, has brought together representatives of public, private has expanded its We have also enjoyed a very close working and third sector organisations and is coming remit has been relationship with the Heritage Lottery Fund, up with imaginative ways of bringing new not least in the development of the highly- resources into the heritage. our involvement successful Heritage Enterprise scheme and in industry-wide the Start-up Grants, which were designed And those new resources are certainly alongside our Project Viability Grants and needed, for another clear trend since 2003 initiatives. launched together in 2013. has been the decline in public funding 4 towards heritage – with the exception of named above; our clients who show great OPPOSITE (top; bottom): the Heritage Lottery Fund, whose support perseverance and imagination in developing St George’s (Royal Garrison) Church (p.12) Fairfield Shipbuilding Offices (p.24) of community-led regeneration has been their projects for sustainable new uses; exemplary. The AHF’s clients have had organisations in the wider third sector and ABOVE: The Tally Ho Inn, to enter uncharted territory in their across national and local government; and before and after (p.13) fundraising, and recently we have seen the many individuals who have helped the AHF BELOW: Severndroog Castle (p.15) use of community share issues and crowd at different times and in different ways. funding in particular as impressive new ways to bring in vital funds whilst also forming Chief among the latter are the Trustees strong connections with local people.