CHARITY UPDATE

CHARITY UPDATE

An update from Kate Mavor

An overview of our work and achievements.

As this magazine lands on your doorstep, many of you will be busy helping to welcome visitors to our sites over the winter months, while others will be stepping back until the new season begins in the spring. Either way, I’d like to thank you all for the vital support that you give to English Heritage – by offering your time, skills and enthusiasm you make a real difference to our work, and you play a very important part in helping visitors to cherish, enjoy and understand the story of England. Awards and achievements Much of our focus in the last six months has been on adapting to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and, as ever, your professionalism and resilience have been outstanding. Thanks to your efforts, visitors are feeling very confident in how we're managing things – 92% say they feel safe when they visit our sites, and visitor experience scores are higher now than they were before the pandemic.

We were delighted to receive Sandford Awards this summer for the quality and value of our education programmes at Stonehenge, Osborne and Battle Abbey, along with Carlisle, Conisbrough, Kenilworth and Beeston castles. With volunteer support to help deliver activities and workshops to school groups and families, we’re able to do so much more to inspire the next generation to explore England’s historic places. In September, we heard the fantastic news that our footbridge at Tintagel Castle had been shortlisted for the prestigious 2021 Stirling Prize, and our new learning centre at Walmer Castle was also shortlisted for their Stephen Lawrence Prize.

Forthcoming events Of course, we aren’t resting on these laurels, and there’s plenty going on over the next few months. Important conservation work is taking place at Hurst Castle, Dover Castle, the Temple Church in Bristol, Carlisle Castle and the Royal Garrison Church in Portsmouth. Work is starting too on a major project at Belsay Hall and great progress has been made at Marble Hill in Twickenham, where the local community is helping to revive the house, the park and its facilities.

The big event to look out for over the next few months is the reopening of Clifford's Tower in York. Not only has it been expertly repaired and conserved, but the visitor experience has also been transformed, with fantastic new interpretation and a new roof deck offering wonderful views out over the historic city.

Finally, it gives me great pleasure to share the news that we were joined by over five hundred wonderful new volunteers this summer. We’re delighted to welcome all of you on board.

Whether you’ve been with us for a few weeks or for many years, you’re helping to inspire people to enjoy our heritage and protect it for future generations. Thank you, and enjoy the issue. ■

Education visit at Kenilworth Castle

You’re helping to inspire people

GET INVOLVED To find out about current volunteer opportunities across the country, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/volunteer