On 6th December we held Heritage Day, sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. The event gathered many of the leaders of the British independent heritage sector, together with Michael Ellis Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, Loyd Grossman, Chair of the Heritage Alliance, Hilary McGrady, the new National Trust Director-General, Duncan Wilson, Historic England’s Chief Executive and Ben Cowell, Chair of Heritage 2020.
Michael Ellis, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, delivered the keynote speech at Heritage Day and the transcript is now online. Among other things the Minister updated attendees on Historic England’s development of a new scheme to enable communities to identify, permanently mark, and celebrate the spots where history has been made, and the people, places and events that are important to them. Historic England will look to run a live trial phase next year with a competition launched to source a final design for the marker that will be used at each location. He also announced that the Government was publishing the Heritage Statement: One Year On, detailing Government’s vision and strategy for heritage and the historic environment.
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If you were unable to join us on the day, you can listen to part 1 of the audio here and part 2 of the audio here. Take a look at the Flickr album of the Heritage Day 2018 and see if you can spot yourself!
The day also saw three Heritage Heroes recognised for their incredible service to the UK’s heritage sector. The winners of the 2018 Ecclesiastical Heritage Hero Awards are:
Ecclesiastical’s Heritage Hero Special Award – Dr Loyd Grossman CBE FSA
This award celebrates the incredible contribution Loyd has made at the Heritage Alliance during the past nine years. In his role as chair, he’s tirelessly championed the needs of Heritage Alliance members and spent time influencing decision makers in Whitehall and Westminster, and with the business community.
Ecclesiastical’s Heritage Hero Award 2018 – Maggie Faultless
This award recognises Maggie’s amazing volunteering and fundraising efforts for All Saint’s Church Alton Priors, Wiltshire and the Churches Conservation Trust. From organising classical music concerts for more than two decades, which have raised tens of thousands of pounds, to rallying the community to raise money to protect the church roof when half of the lead was stolen. The award celebrates the many hours Maggie has volunteered to make a real impact in her local community and the heritage sector more widely. See video about Maggie.
Ecclesiastical’s Heritage Hero Lifetime Award 2018 – Maria Perks
This award celebrates Maria’s incredible contribution to the Heritage Trusts Network and its predecessor organisation the Association of Building Preservation Trusts during the past 29 years. Having retired earlier this year, Maria has helped many heritage organisations from See video about Maria.
We also had a presentation from our legal partner BWB. You can find out more about the benefits they offer our members here.