Building community enterprise through heritage Ian Morrison 13.10 · 2016. 11. 8. · Ian Morrison...
Transcript of Building community enterprise through heritage Ian Morrison 13.10 · 2016. 11. 8. · Ian Morrison...
www.ahfund.org.uk
Building community enterprise through heritage
Ian Morrison
13.10.2016
www.ahfund.org.uk
Who we are
• AHF set up as a result of a 1971 Civic Trust
study and 1975 European Year of
Architectural Heritage
• Advice, grants and loans, plus lobbying and
capacity building
• Promote the role of historic buildings in
regeneration
• Ongoing support to >500 projects a year
• Network of support officers throughout
England and Scotland
• Loans of £124m to 900 historic building
renovation projects, and 1,200 grants
totalling over £10m
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www.ahfund.org.uk
Impact
Client outcomes
• 89% of AHF clients more confident
• 87% of organisations have engaged with a
wider audience
• 91% of clients have increased their
credibility to other funders
• 66% of AHF-supported projects resulted
in the re-use of a historic building
• 2000+ acquired new skills in business
planning, community engagement etc.
• 88% have developed new partnerships
thanks to AHF support
Community outcomes
• 77% feel their community is a better place to
live/work
• 4,000+ training opportunities established
• 2,000+ new jobs created
• 646,000+ people visited an AHF-supported project in
the last year for leisure or recreation
• 7,000+ community events
• 12,000+ volunteering opportunities
• 500+ new commercial businesses run from AHF-
supported projects
• GVA £106m during building phase
• £400m of additional investment levered in over last
15 years3
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The economic and political context in 2016
• Economy fragile outside of London and the South
• State of economy impacting on not-for-profit sector groups’ ability to create
viable business plans
• Property market unstable and inconsistent across regions
• Huge restructuring of the public sector
• Decline in local authority conservation services and support
• Localism and empowerment of local communities – assets of community
value
• Opportunities through Asset Transfer though some Local Authorities guilty of
‘asset dumping’/’liability transfer’
• Importance of Heritage Lottery Fund
• Rise of the “community business” and the “social investor”
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Community Enterprise
• Significant priority for all UK
governments
• Strategy for social investment
launched in 2011
• Big Society Capital set up with
£600m
• Social Investment Tax Relief
initiative in 2014
• The Co-operatives and Community
Benefit Societies Act 2014
• £150m Power to Change Trust to
grow community businesses
• HLF Heritage Enterprise grant
programme introduced in 2013
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www.ahfund.org.uk
AHF strategy and mission
To ensure as many people as
possible can enjoy the cultural,
social and economic benefits of
a vibrant and well-managed
architectural heritage.
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Our objectives
Objective One: To support people, communities and
organisations to take ownership, to repair and to adapt
historic buildings and places for new sustainable uses.
Objective Two: To attract more investment for the
conservation and sustainable re-use of the UK’s
architectural heritage.
Objective Three: To inspire the start up and growth of
new community enterprises that utilise historic buildings
and places for public benefit.
Objective Four: To demonstrate the value of a well-
managed historic environment by championing and
showcasing the impact of the projects we have
supported.
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www.ahfund.org.uk
The AHF client
1980s/1990s
• Revolving fund Building Preservation Trusts
(BPT), some set up and resourced by local
authorities.
• Market purchase of historic building at risk.
• Repair costs mainly financed by a short-term
AHF loan.
• Additional grants from statutory agencies and
local authorities.
• Building sold to private buyer on project
completion for moderate profit.
• Requires skills in delivery of a capital repair
project.
2016
• Single project BPT or other community organisation, or
partnership between BPT and social enterprise.
• Historic buildings increasingly acquired through asset
transfer.
• Repair costs mainly financed by HLF grant with
supplementary AHF loan to make up shortfall.
• Additional funds increasingly raised through social
investment – e.g. community shares.
• Building retained on project completion and run as a
community business.
• Requires skills in delivery of a capital repair project AND
running a business.
• AHF loan term longer and increasingly reliant on trading
to repay capital debt rather than sale.8
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Advice
421enquiries were about
projects that are seeking
to rescue and find new
uses for listed buildings
152enquiries were about
repairing historic
buildings officially
designated as “at risk”
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33%of queries all enquiries
relate to projects
involving community
businesses
35%of queries relate to
projects involving a
potential Asset Transfer
In 2015/16:
550 enquiries responded to by AHF,
of which new clients totalled 270.
www.ahfund.org.uk
Grants
97 grant
applications
received in
2015/16 of which
64 grant offers
were made
totalling £375,033.
26 grant offers
were for buildings
on national “at
risk” registers.
23 grant offers
were for buildings
listed at Grade I/A
or II*.
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63% of grantees
were for
organisations
that had never
previously
applied for AHF
funding.
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Loans
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www.ahfund.org.uk
Growing our services
• 3-year funding agreement with
DCMS to increase Support Officer
provision and expand grant
programmes.
• 3-year extension of funding from
Historic England for existing
Support Officers.
• Contributions from DCMS and
Historic Environment Scotland to
increase resources for lending.
• Grant from Garfield Weston
Foundation to expand advice and
grant services into Wales.
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www.ahfund.org.uk
Support Officers
• 8 support officers in England
• 1 support officer in Scotland
• 1 support officer in Wales by 2017
• Seeking a support officer in Northern
Ireland
• Additional specialist skills in
o Business planning
o Public relations, media and marketing
o Property management
o Community engagement
o Social investment
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www.ahfund.org.uk
Grants
• £1m per year to award in grants to
projects in England
• £250,000 per year in Scotland
• Expanded grants programme to be
introduced in Wales in 2017
• Seeking funding to increase grants
programme in Northern Ireland in 2017
• Applications assessed according to:
o Heritage need
o Social impact
o Urgency
o Financial need
Project Viability Grants
• Grants of up £5,000 to establish project viability
• Can be used to produce a viability appraisal
• Decisions within 6 weeks
Project Development Grants
• Grants of up to £25,000 to develop a project up to
works starting on site
• Can be used for other funding bids or planning
consents
• Project viability must be established
• Decisions taken at 4 meetings a year
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www.ahfund.org.uk
Loans
Significant capital available for lending at competitive rates for
building acquisition and/or working capital.
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Loan terms of up to 5 years available.
New Community Heritage Support Fund – loans/community shares of up to £50,000 to support and sustain community enterprises in historic buildings.
www.ahfund.org.uk
AHF and HTN – working in partnership
• Formation of UK APT an outcome of
1988 AHF national conference for BPTs.
• For next 20 years most AHF loans and
grants were made to APT members
• APT/HTN representation on AHF’s Board
of Trustees
• AHF keen to help HTN grow and
strengthen its membership
• AHF Support Officers will engage with
HTN regional networks
• Opportunities for AHF/HTN joint
initiatives to promote enterprise
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www.ahfund.org.uk
In summary
For over 40 years the Architectural Heritage Fund has helped charities and social
enterprises across the UK find solutions for vulnerable historic buildings.
• Our ambition is to help more people to enjoy the cultural, social and economic benefits
of architectural heritage.
• We will use our expanding advice, grants and loan services to help BPTs and other
community organisations find enterprising new uses for historic buildings at risk.
• We will continue to support traditional revolving fund BPT projects.
• But we will prioritise support for projects that establish or grow community businesses
trading from historic buildings.
• Specifically, we wish to significantly encourage the growth of community share offers in
the built heritage sector.
• We will work closely with the Heritage Trust Network to build capacity, share expertise
and celebrate the remarkable achievements of BPTs.
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“Thank goodness, then, for the
AHF who through their advice
and investment gave us the
encouragement to develop our
project and reopen this
wonderful heritage attraction
for people to enjoy for years to
come.”Simon Opie, Chief ExecutiveHastings Pier Charity
www.ahfund.org.uk
Thank you
For further details about the AHF
and our services visit our website:
ahfund.org.uk
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