The IHBC’s 2024 Yearbook has been issued in partnership with Cathedral Communications, as the essential sector guide, reference and update for 2024, with a foreword by Gerard Lemos CMG CBE, Chair of English Heritage and opening speaker at our Reading School – #IHBCReading2024 – who applauds the IHBC’s members and our work ‘at the vanguard of conservation’, all complemented by regular updates from IHBC’s officers and much more.
[Gerard Lemos]’…how Conservation can help People make new connections with Places…’
Gerard Lemos writes:
As the Chair of English Heritage, it is a pleasure to write this foreword for this Institute of Historic Building Conservation Yearbook. The IHBC website bears the words Conservation, People, Places, and it’s these words that give me my theme: how Conservation can help People make new connections with Places.
English Heritage now attracts more visitors and members than ever before. We have opened up more of our sites, intervened dramatically but sensitively in several of the most important sites, and shared more stories. I am proud to say that we are investing more money in the stewardship of this collection of remarkable sites than at any time in the past. I would like to thank everyone who has supported us, including members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation…
… members of the IHBC have long been at the vanguard of conservation…
… the distinctiveness of our collection, together with our world class aspirations, creates a variety of conservation challenges and in this regard, it is representative of the historic building stock of the whole country, for which members of the IHBC have long been at the vanguard of conservation. ‘
IHBC President Mike Brown writes:
… Chartered status for the IHBC will strengthen the standing and professional reputation….of all….
… Britain’s heritage is the topophilic ‘cherished familiar landscape’ that provides the stage upon which all of us can successfully conduct our daily lives in well-being and health, and within an enriching cultural context. Its very time-depth provides continuity and stability in a world of increasingly dizzying change, while the evidence of its managed evolution gives us confidence that the future need not be feared. So, Britain’s heritage is much more than a tourism draw, important though that is. Its conservation and protection is, therefore, of the utmost significance to the UK, both at home and abroad. The IHBC and its members are central to that endeavour.
Chartered status for the IHBC will strengthen the standing and professional reputation of not just our members, but all those organisations and individuals working in heritage, place-making and the building conservation sector…
IHBC Chair David McDonald writes:
… all in some way or other extolling the benefits of conserving the historic environment…
… Our advocacy works at all sorts of levels, from attendance at events such as Heritage Day, to our response to consultations and interactions with government organisations and even members, day-to-day dealing with clients, councillors and members of the public. We are all in some way or other extolling the benefits of conserving the historic environment.
In any advocacy, key skills involve understanding the person or organisation that you are trying to influence and, to some extent, putting yourself in their position….
‘As in previous years, the content of this yearbook follows that of the annual school which is to be held in Reading. Its title ‘Place and Building Care’ sets an ambitious aim and will cover a wide range of topics including many aspects of managing the historic environment. I’m sure readers will find the connections between economics, finance and people very instructive….
IHBC Director Seán O’Reilly writes:
… I hope that we have also remained true to our core principles and objectives…
… education and training : Mindful of the IHBC’s focus on learning support through our branch networks, investment expanded most notably in training, with a focus on career support for members….
Branches and members… have been helped by funding allocations and bid opportunities, again sourced in lockdown-led surpluses. Additional structural support has included a dedicated branch support role, which is still evolving to make sure it maximises benefit across our services.
Annual schools: Now, we are more confident of our evolving school model, with online and in-person delegate experiences more fully balanced while also including a free, virtual-only and ‘all welcome’ experience. We also have the school- themed MarketPlace:LIVE, linked to our evolving online, holistic service and advisory support resource, the Heritage MarketPlace.
Celebration and awards: The diverse range of IHBC-led and linked awards marks an increasingly sophisticated thread in our strategic promotion of the IHBC’s own interdisciplinary conservation practice. This is helped not least by the continuing integration of funding and cross-branding through our CREATIVE Conservation Fund.
Parliamentary advocacy: Extending our UK-wide conservation advocacy in the political field, most notably through the Westminster- based All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), has been understandably complex…
… helpfully informed by substantial and first-hand experience, we are using this knowledge to develop a more sophisticated approach to engagement in the political arena.
… in conclusion: Clearly, recent times have offered unique and often unforeseeable challenges and opportunities. I hope and believe that we have done all we possibly could to make the most of both for conservation practice and practitioners, as well as for wider public interest and good.
And regardless of how that all serendipitously ties with the fundamentals of a charter, I hope that we have also remained true to our core principles and objectives. If so, in these difficult times, we are even more of a rare beast.
See full details of the above:
- Foreword – Gerard Lemos CMG CBE Chair English Heritage
- Welcome – Mike Brown, IHBC President
- Chair’s Review – Advocating Chartered Status – David McDonald, IHBC Chair
- Director’s Update – Building on Resilience- Seân O’Reilly, IHBC Director
Yearbook: Summary contents:
- Structure and membership
- Regular features
- School-themed features
- HESPR companies
- IHBC promotions and publications
- Directory of members
- The conservation hour: CPD with IHBC West Midlands, Rachael Parry
- IHBC-recognised courses
- National organisations
- Local authority contacts
- Products and services
- Specialist suppliers index
See the IHBC 2024 Yearbook at Full 2024 Yearbook
See more on the IHBC’s Yearbook publications
See more on IHBC Yearbook publishers Cathedral Communications
