Architectural Heritage Fund breaks £100million barrier
Decisions taken at the latest meeting of its Council of Management took the total grants and loans offered by The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) through the £100million barrier. This funding has been offered to building preservation trusts and other charities over the last 31 years, helping to restore and bring new life to more than 1,000 historic buildings throughout the UK. Commenting on the financial milestone, Ian Lush, Chief Executive of the AHF, said: “We are delighted to have been able to offer so much support to charities finding new uses for buildings at the heart of their communities. The projects we help contribute enormously to regeneration and to restoring civic pride, and range from tiny rural cottages to vast ex-industrial mill and factory complexes. Our clients are also very varied, some being entirely run by volunteers, others with a team of professional staff and a turnover of millions: what they all have in common is their clear-sighted approach to ensuring that the buildings they restore are viable and sustainable in the long term.”
New Appointments
John Townsend has been appointed as the new Chairman of the AHF, succeeding Jane Sharman CBE, who has retired after ten years as a Trustee and seven as Chairman. John has a distinguished record of public and charitable service, including as Chair of Planning for his local authority in South Northamptonshire, and as a regional Chair for the National Trust. Scottish Trustee Bill Cadell, has also retired after ten years service; he is replaced by Liz Davidson, who is Project Director for the Merchant City Initiative of Glasgow City Council.
The AHF is also pleased to announce the appointment of Gavin Richards to the new post of Projects and Development Officer North. This is following a restructuring after the departure of Maria Perks, the AHF's Project Development Manager, who left at the end of September after 18 years with the AHF to join the Prince's Regeneration Trust. Gavin will be based in Bury, Greater Manchester, and will concentrate mainly on projects in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England, but all enquiries should continue to be directed to the AHF’s offices at Alhambra House. Gavin is currently running a Townscape Heritage Initiative for Bolton Council, and previously worked for the Heritage Lottery Fund; he starts with the AHF on Monday 3 December.
2006-07 Annual Review Published
The Annual Review contains details of all the projects the AHF is currently supporting, and the 23 which were completed with the AHF's help during the financial year, ranging from the magnificent Church and Monastery of St Francis in Gorton, Manchester, to the important rural vernacular buildings restored by the Mourne Heritage Trust in Northern Ireland. The fully-illustrated Annual Review also has essays by Ian Lush and outgoing Chairman Jane Sharman CBE, and a full guide to the grants and loans which the AHF offers to charities restoring historic buildings throughout the UK. The Annual Review is available for £10 from the AHF. Please contact Diane Kendal: diane@ahfund.org.uk or 020 7925 0199.
Funds for Historic Buildings now extended to cover the whole of the UK
Funds for Historic Buildings, the AHF’s online database - www.ffhb.org.uk – has been given a bright new look and extended to cover the whole of the UK, having previously been only for funding sources in England and Wales. FFHB is one of the most popular and well-used resources in the heritage sector, and its extension now makes it even more valuable, with over 200 separate sources of funding included. It is fully interactive and searchable by location, type of building and nature of ownership, and completely free to use. The AHF is able to offer this service thanks to support from English Heritage, Cadw in Wales, and now from Historic Scotland and the Department of Environment Northern Ireland: Environment and Heritage Service.
Deadlines for Applications in 2008
Any charity wishing to apply for loans and grants in 2008 should note the application deadlines for the quarterly meetings which are as follows: 31 January for March meeting, 8 May for June meeting, 14 August for September meeting and 23 October for December meeting.
Sites Insight
To mark its 30th anniversary, the AHF has asked 12 public figures to write on the subject of what matters to them about the UK’s heritage – its historic buildings and landscapes. The people chosen are well-known in their own fields – the media, politics, the arts, sport and business, but not generally associated with heritage, and their responses to the commission are passionate and hugely diverse.
Sites insight was launched on 6 November 2006 and is available from all leading book shops. Read the full press release here.
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