Welcome | The Architectural Heritage Fund

As it has been for nearly everyone, the past year has been an enormous challenge to the AHF and the projects we support. There have been numerous false dawns, with the pandemic supposedly behind us, only for it to rebound again after a short period of respite. This has been hugely challenging for us all, both in terms of planning for the recovery and also in terms of the overall morale of everyone we are working with.

Despite this, everyone has responded brilliantly to this most trying of times and I must take the opportunity to thank the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and statutory agencies across the UK – including Department for Communities Northern Ireland, Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland and Cadw – for their vital extra investments into heritage projects to help them through the pandemic. We are also grateful for the ongoing support from foundation and trust supporters, including the Garfield Weston Foundation, Pilgrim Trust and William Grant Foundation.

As well as helping to distribute some of these emergency funds, the AHF team has been incredibly busy in continuing to award new grants and loans to projects throughout the UK. In fact, this year has seen us award the most funding ever. Despite the pandemic, communities across the country continue to bring forward ideas for regenerating much-loved historic buildings.

This year has seen us award the most funding ever. Despite the pandemic, communities across the country continue to bring forward ideas for regenerating much-loved historic buildings.

Liz Peace CBE, Chairperson

What the past year has shown is the enormous role heritage assets play and will continue to play within communities. We know they will be as important in the recovery as they were in the midst of the crisis.

Matthew McKeague, Chief Executive

Away from COVID-19, we have continued to develop initiatives to address long-term challenges and issues. We published our first Environmental Strategy and action plan, setting out how we will address the ever more urgent problems facing us because of climate change. Building reuse has an important role to play here and it is good to see mainstream opinion beginning to recognise this through initiatives such as The Architects’ Journal’s ‘Retro First’ campaign.

We also reviewed the AHF’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies, creating a new vision statement and action plan which will help us to become a more diverse organisation ourselves but also assist the many projects with whom we work. In recent years, we have made efforts in becoming more diverse at Board level but we know the issue is broader than this and will also involve a collaborative effort with our partners in affecting genuine change at local, regional and national level.

The past eighteen months seem to have taught us to appreciate better the heritage buildings and places within our communities – let’s hope that is a legacy that sticks with us.

Despite the challenges of recruiting and working remotely, I was really delighted to be able to bring on board three new trustees, Carole-Anne Davies, Neal Shasore and Greg Pickup. Each brings significant new experience and perspectives to the Board’s work that will be invaluable as we help our client organisations to navigate the post COVID-19 environment. My thanks also to the trustees on our Audit and Risk Committee, and Grants and Credit Panels for the significant efforts they have made during this very trying year.

I do hope you enjoy reading about the projects we have supported. I am always heartened to see efforts to reuse many of our wonderful heritage assets, whether they are new uses for the high street or the retention of old uses through the community buy-out of a much-loved pub. The past eighteen months seem to have taught us to appreciate better the heritage buildings and places within our communities – let’s hope that is a legacy that sticks with us.

Elizabeth Peace CBE

Chairperson

Nudge Community Builders | Gaumont Cinema

Welcome from our Chief Executive

Despite the tumultuous year we have all faced due to COVID-19, we have witnessed a huge effort on the part of so many people and organisations to work together to try and lessen the impact.

The investments the UK Government has made through the Culture Recovery Fund, along with the devolved administrations, have been unprecedented in scale and have undoubtedly saved many organisations and institutions — along with the historic buildings and sites they care for. Those investments have been a lifeline to so many.

I am very grateful to my team for delivering the funding and advice we have given this year. We have not been unique among funders in managing the extremely demanding situation of increasing demand for our advice while making a significant additional number of funding awards (whilst also keeping our existing funding programmes open and being part-time teachers, carers and various other non-official roles!). However, I am no less overawed by my team’s positivity, grit and – most of all – supportiveness and kindness towards each other during the past year.

There is still much work to do. COVID-19 has exposed the inequalities that affect many of our cities, towns and villages and has exacerbated long-standing trends on our high streets.

Back in the spring we hosted an online conference with a range of partners and the Financial Times journalist, Martin Sandbu. The event looked at the issues affecting many of our towns and high streets and what the government’s Levelling Up agenda might do to address some of the challenges. Although there was recognition that long-standing problems were not going to be solved overnight, there was consensus that the heritage assets and the not-for-profit sectors had a significant role to play in creating and maintaining attractive and prosperous places that can turn around long-term decline.

I hope, like me, you are getting out and seeing places again. Many of the organisations we support rely on visitor spend and events; building these income streams back up again will be critical. However, what the past year has shown is the enormous role heritage assets play and will continue to play within communities. We know they will be as important in the recovery as they were in the midst of the crisis.

Matthew Mckeague

Chief Executive

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