Here at the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF), our aim is to help groups across the UK find enterprising ways to revitalise the old buildings at the heart of their communities. However, we recognise that to enable historic buildings to evolve and remain places that matter to us all, the opportunities to develop and own heritage assets must be accessible to everyone. This is why we are constantly working to encourage our funding and support to reach into all communities, as well as striving to represent the diversity of identities, cultures and backgrounds of the UK through our staff and trustees.
To build on our existing commitments to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), we are delighted to announce that the AHF has now signed up to the Diversity Forum’s Manifesto 2.0. In doing so, we pledge to follow the seven commitments set out in the manifesto and to complete the 10 initial actions within the next six months, thus helping us work towards the delivery of more inclusive social investment as an organisation, and to further address equity, equality, diversity and inclusion in the wider social enterprise sector. We know that bringing about this change will take time and dedication, which is why we welcome the regular check-ins with the Diversity Forum and fellow signatories, allowing us to access support and guidance and to work collaboratively on shared goals and aims for an open and transparent approach to EDI within social investment.
For the AHF, signing the Manifesto 2.0 is another crucial step towards our goal of creating more open and representative heritage and social investment sectors, consequently enabling our funding and support to reach a broader range of people. We look forward to working closely with the Diversity Forum and other signatories to continue on this path of making the social investment sector more inclusive.
