We know that the historic environment is a successful mechanism for getting people involved in local issues.
However we also know that more could be done to increase and widen community involvement in heritage. Only 14% of civic society members are actively involved at any one time and five out of six members are over the age of 55.
New research for ‘Heritage Counts’ explored the motivations for and barriers to people’s involvement in local heritage issues with communities in Leeds and Leicester, before coming up with a checklist which local community and heritage groups can use to develop solutions which work for them for attracting more and diverse participants to their group or cause.
If you a community or heritage group, looking to increase active membership and community involvement, please scroll down to the checklist.
We will also be undertaking a series of events across the country where we will go through the checklist and give you the opportunity to meet other groups like yours from your local area. These will happen in early 2012. If you are interested in attending one of these events, which will be free of charge, please email: hc2011@english-heritage.org.uk
There were no surprises.
To increase community involvement in heritage issues local groups should be offering:
- Opportunities which are local and immediate
- Flexible in terms of amount of commitment required and when it is required
- Personal incentives. ‘Making a difference’ is often a secondary reason for people getting involved, people get involved because they want to have fun, meet people or get out the house
Most importantly people need to be invited to get involved, and preferably by someone they know.
A summary of the findings is available in the ‘Heritage Counts 2011’ report and also here:
There are no right or wrong solutions for getting more people involved in heritage issues. But there are general principles which can help guide heritage and community organisations increase active membership or volunteer numbers.
The checklist can be used by groups to work through the issues they face in attracting new participants and come up with solutions which work for them in their local area.
This could be thinking about the type of activities you offer including putting on more family events or identifying partner organisations which can help you deliver a particular project. Most of all it is about getting out there and asking people to take part.
We will be running a series of events in early 2012 which will go through the checklist. Aimed at groups involved in local heritage or historic environment issues, they will be a great way to meet other groups like yours and swap notes. The sessions will be free of charge. If you would like to register your interest please email hc2011@english-heritage.org.uk.
A summary of the research is included in the national ‘Heritage Counts’ report, and you can download the checklist below. It is available as a PowerPoint presentation to run through in a group meeting or as a PDF document.