AHF 50th Conference Programme
Welcome to the AHF's 50th Anniversary Conference: Heritage - Radical. Reimagined. Revitalised.
Take a look at the full programme below.
What We Do
1:30 | Doors open
2:00 | Welcome: Matthew Mckeague, CEO, AHF
2:15 | Keynote 1: Polly Mackenzie, Co-Founder and CEO, Zinc Innovation Partners
Restoring the Future: Building a National Culture of Connection and Repair
2:35 | Session 1: Reimagining Housing and Retrofit
Chair: Ros Kerslake, Chair, AHF; Board, Housing England
Panellists: Darren Barker; Pete Gladwell; Martin Newman; Sara Edmonds
3:20 | Q&A
3:35 | Networking Tea Break
4:00 | Session 2: Rethinking Delivery Models and Partnerships
Chair: Matthew Mckeague, CEO, AHF
Panellists: Nia Arfon, Syreeta Bayne, Lindsey Hall
4:45 | Q&A
5:00 | Networking Tea Break
5:30 | Keynote 2: Samira Ahmed, Broadcaster, Writer, Journalist
Firestone and Treacle: Stories of Architectural Love, Loss and Salvation
5:50 | Session 3: Radical Heritage Futures
Chair: Kelcey Wilson-Lee, Deputy CEO & Director of Programmes, AHF
Speakers: Richard Upton, CEO, Cathedral Group; Eilidh Henderson and John Brown, Page / Park
6:30 | Networking Drinks Reception
8:00 | Programme ends
Chief Executive of the Architectural Heritage Fund
Matthew joined the Architectural Heritage Fund as CEO in October 2017 and has led the expansion of the organisation in developing and delivering its vision to support community and social enterprises to adapt and reuse historic buildings for the benefit of communities. This recent expansion has included delivery of the £15.4m Transforming Places through Heritage programme and the launch of the £7m Heritage Impact Fund.
Prior to joining the AHF, Matthew was the Director of Regeneration for the Churches Conservation Trust. He led the Regeneration Team in finding solutions for the Trust’s estate of historic churches and in facilitating greater involvement of communities and not-for-profit organisations in maintaining and running them. He also set up the CCT's consultancy service. His previous career roles were in regeneration positions for the public and private sector.
Co-Founder and CEO, Zinc Innovation Partners
Polly Mackenzie is a writer, policy strategist and civic entrepreneur whose career has spanned government, think tanks and the voluntary sector. She served as Director of Policy to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg throughout the coalition government, and went on to lead Demos, found the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, and helped set up the Women's Equality Party. More recently, she was Chief Social Purpose Officer at the University of the Arts London.
She now runs Zinc Innovation Partners, working at the intersection of research, innovation and community action, with a particular focus on what it takes to turn good ideas into lasting change.
Chair of the Architectural Heritage Fund and Board, Homes England
Ros Kerslake CBE has more than 25 years’ board level experience in the property and regeneration sectors, serving as chief executive, non-executive director and chair for a number of public, private and third sector organisations.
Previously she was Chief Executive Officer of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, overseeing circa £400m per annum of project investment, alongside a major organisation transformation programme of the UK-wide body. Her earlier roles include Chief Executive of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, leading urban regeneration across the UK, Chief Executive for Regen Co, Sandwell, and Director of Property at Network Rail.
Ros is on the board of Sanctuary Housing Group and Homes England and is a trustee of regeneration charity Re-form Heritage and the University College of Estate Management. She chairs Leeds Castle Foundation. She was awarded a CBE in 2020 and an OBE in 2016 for services to heritage. She is a qualified solicitor.
Managing Director of Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust
Darren has 30 years' experience in heritage conservation across the UK and Europe, and became Managing Director of Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust in 2011.
He has an extensive track record in the repair and conservation of heritage assets and community engagement, linking this with developing creative uses for vacant and neglected buildings and spaces. Darren lectures widely and has established a number of conservation training programmes both in Great Yarmouth and abroad.
Darren was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List 2022 for services to Heritage.
Group Managing Director, Public Investment, Legal & General
Pete leads the team who drive Legal & General’s investments in Productive Finance (which now total over £16bn); using L&G’s internal and external capital pools across lending and equity, including partnerships with other pension schemes and mastertrusts, to drive economic growth and positive social and environmental impact. His team are particularly focussed on investment with the public sector to deliver these outcomes, working closely with central government departments, local and combined authorities, Universities, and Housing Associations.
A former youth worker, Pete is heavily involved in local community projects in West London, an Honorary Professor at University College London, a Freeman of the City of London, a member of HM Treasury’s Social Impact Investment Advisory Group, on the Board of L&G Affordable Homes, and a Trustee of the Fairness Foundation.
Chief Executive of Giroscope
Martin Newman, Giroscope CEO, is a co-founder of the organisation and has played a central role in its development over the past four decades. Part of the original group renovating empty homes in west Hull during the 1980s, he helped shape Giroscope’s community-led approach to housing, regeneration and sustainability, supporting the organisation’s growth from a small co-operative into a long-standing Hull charity.
Co-Director of National Retrofit Hub
Sara Edmonds is an architect, activist, and Co-Director of the National Retrofit Hub, whose mission is to enable the local delivery of retrofit at scale. She co-founded Home Energy Action Lab (HEAL), an advocacy organisation for community based domestic retrofit. She sits on the Warm Homes Plan expert advisory panel.
Previously she spent 3 years as Head of Citizen Engagement at Built Environment - Smarter Transformation in the retrofit team, and 3 years as a coordinator at the Architects Climate Action Network, an organisation formed to empower individuals within architecture and related built environment professions taking action to address the twin crises of climate and ecological breakdown; and spent a year as social housing associate at the Passivhaus Trust. For over a decade, she was director of Studio seARCH, a consultancy that advocated for systemic change around low carbon domestic retrofit.
Working in the face of a climate emergency, the focus of Sara’s work is to drive essential change in the built environment and wider communities through connecting bottom-up, grassroots projects and top-down strategies and initiatives. Collaboration and codesign is a fundamental part of this work.
Chief Executive of Galeri Caernarfon Cyf/Ltd
Nia Arfon is the Chief Executive of Galeri Caernarfon Cyf/Ltd, a social enterprise based in the historic Welsh town of Caernarfon, North Wales. Galeri was established in 1992 as a development trust responding to severe economic decline in the town centre, and has since evolved into a nationally recognised model of heritage‑led, community‑based regeneration. Galeri’s work has included the regeneration of more than 25 historic properties, the development of the Galeri Ceative Arts Centre and the co‑delivery of the Cei Llechi Artisan Shopping quarter.
Recent independent analysis confirms Galeri’s contribution as a cornerstone of the local economy, supporting over 90 jobs across the region, generating millions in gross value added, and delivering significant social and cultural value through community wellbeing programmes and Welsh‑language activity.
Nia has been at the helm for 14 months - she brings a strong and growing track record in people‑centred leadership, organisational development and cross‑sector partnership working, informed by a career rooted in the third sector, following over 10 years with the flagship organisation, Menter Môn Ltd. A young, emerging Chief Executive, mother of two - making her mark locally and across North Wales - she is known for her collaborative approach, ability to build trust, and commitment to developing sustainable models that work in rural and community‑led contexts, underpinned by a deep belief in the Welsh language as a living, professional and creative force for place‑based regeneration.
Trustee of the Architectural Heritage Fund, and Head of Social Value and Sustainability at Muse
Syreeta joined Muse in 2023 as the Head of Social Value and Sustainability from JLL where she was working as their EMEA Head of Social Value as part of the Global Sustainable Operations Team. With circa 15 years’ experience, six of which were in the construction sector working at Interserve and BAM UK, Syreeta has created and led various social and sustainability projects in partnership with private and public sector clients including Aviva, Legal and General Investment Management, La Salle and Homes England.
Syreeta’s main drives at Muse is to develop the combined strategy for social impact, sustainability, and equality, diversity and inclusion, called “Our Sustainable Future”. Syreeta brings her experience and expertise to AHF, supporting it on its journey to create impactful places and community hubs.
Chief Executive of Real Ideas Organisation
Lindsey Hall MBE, CEO of Real Ideas, leads and manages the organisation to develop innovative approaches to creative regeneration; restoring heritage spaces; enabling others, particularly young people, to set up and run creative, socially entrepreneurial activities; solving problems; and developing creative careers, businesses and skills.
From building award-winning programmes in the UK to driving groundbreaking initiatives internationally, Lindsey has the experience and skills at management, board, and executive level to steer creative, impact driven business ideas towards success, making money and making a difference at the same time.
Lindsey is the Social Value Lead for Team Plymouth, driving innovation in impact-led social value.
Journalist, writer and broadcaster
Award-winning journalist, writer and broadcaster Samira Ahmed presents Front Row on Radio 4, Newswatch on BBC One and is the author of a BFI Film Classics book on the Beatles’ first film A Hard Day’s Night. Samira is also President of the Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns to protect modern architectural heritage and design. She co-hosts the TV history podcast Through the Square Window and writes a column for New Humanist magazine. Samira is a trustee of the Centre for Women’s Justice.
Director of Programmes and Deputy CEO at the Architectural Heritage Fund
Dr Kelcey Wilson-Lee is the Director of Programmes and Deputy CEO at the Architectural Heritage Fund, where she leads the AHF’s UK-wide grant programmes, evaluation, communications, and fundraising work. She has been with the AHF since 2019. Previously, she worked as a senior fundraiser at the University of Cambridge.
Kelcey is also a historian of medieval history and built heritage, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Her academic specialisms are focused around commemoration within historic church interiors and medieval women, some of whom she wrote about in Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children of Edward I, which was published in 2019. When time permits, she writes for both popular and academic journals, and speaks on regional and national radio and podcasts on topics related to medieval history and churches, as well as heritage.
Founder and Chief Executive of Cathedral Group
Richard founded the specialist regeneration property developer, Cathedral Group, and was previously a co-founding director of Mount Anvil, now one of the largest housebuilders in London. He has extensive experience in the field of major complex regeneration projects throughout the UK. He was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive of U+I - the FTSE quoted specialist regeneration property and investment business - in July 2015, following the merger of Cathedral Group and Development Securities. In January 2021, Richard was appointed Chief Executive of U+I and immediately restructured the business, leading to a sale of the business to Land Securities Plc in December 2021. Richard stepped away from that merged business, LandSecU+I, in 2024.
Richard is a now a Visiting Fellow at the University of Reading and in 2024 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Ravensbourne University in recognition of his services to social impact in the built environment. Richard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In April 2024, Richard was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Richard has served as Historic England's London Advisory Committee member since 2012 and has campaigned extensively for sustainable restoration of heritage buildings, including the campaign to save Smithfield Market, which he co-funded and fought successfully; the historic market buildings will now house the Museum of London. Richard was appointed by the Secretary of State, DCMS, as a Commissioner of Historic England, stepping down after eight years of service in December 2025.
Richard is married with two children and is spending the autumn of his years saving historic buildings closer to home, running a community pub, shops and projects focussed on social and economic impact [all marinated with public art] alongside many adventures across the globe.
Director of Page\Park
Eilidh has been a Director at Page\Park for the past eight years and plays a lead role in the management of the practice. She is a board member of the National Mining Museum of Scotland, and a lay expert on the Heritage Committee for the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. In 2025, she was elected to become an Academician of the Royal Scottish Academy.
Eilidh’s key strength is in helping organisations define strategies for transformational change. She brings optimistic and visionary thinking to every project, blended with the pragmatism gained from two decades of practice.
Her project experience is grounded in the delivery of cultural experiences, including in visitor attraction, performing arts and museums sectors. She was a key member of the team delivering the Scottish Opera Theatre Royal project in Glasgow, and went on to lead the delivery of St Cecilia’s Music Hall for Edinburgh University, home to an internationally significant collection of musical instruments, and concert hall – located within a UNESCO World Heritage site.
She has also delivered extensive urban strategy work, in her role overseeing the practice Communities and Place team. This has given her broad experience in community engagement and collaborative design practice.
Director of Page\Park
John joined Page\Park in 2015, and is now a Director of the practice, having been voted onto the board in 2024 under their employee ownership model. He graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a masters degree in Advanced Architectural Design, and now holds the highest level of RIBA conservation accreditation.
John has worked in a wide range of historic settings and iconic buildings designing sensitive interventions and conservation works, including leading the refurbishment of Leeds Town Hall, and a new masterplan for Fyvie Castle for the National Trust for Scotland. He has also led new build projects, such as defining a new architectural design language for SSE-Renewables major Hydro capital projects in the Scottish landscape.
John is involved with teaching activities on behalf of the practice; having led a design unit in the first year of architecture at the University of Strathclyde for 7 years. He has also tutored masters students at Strathclyde, acting as dissertation adviser for topics involving conservation and re-use, and has lectured internationally for the Reseau Art Nouveau Network and KU Leuven University in Belgium.
He has a keen interest in the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, having been closely involved in the 2015-18 reconstruction of the Glasgow School of Art. He now sits on the Mackintosh Society Buildings and Interiors Committee and was recently invited to join the expert panel guiding the conservation and refurbishment of the Hill House in Helensburgh.
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage.
The AHF’s 50th Anniversary celebrations have been made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to mark five decades of our work in Reimagining Heritage and Transforming Communities across the UK, while also looking forward at opportunities for heritage regeneration over the next 50 years.
