Upcoming Events
Stay up to date on heritage issues and initiatives across the Commonwealth by attending our upcoming events and online talks. Information about future events will be shared here.
Previous Talks
THE TEMPERATE HOUSE AT THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW BY FRANCIS MAUDE
Book a free ticket here. Booking closes at 12:00 on Thursday 18th February. The Temperate House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew forms part of the World Heritage Site and was...Read More→
GOVERNMENT HOUSES OF THE COMMONWEALTH BY JEFFREY HYLAND
This talk looks at the unique histories of some of over fifty Vice-Regal Residences of the Crown across the Commonwealth. Book a free ticket here. Writer Jeffrey Hyland has recently published...Read More→
Our Summer Reception 2024
Celebrating two years of Heritage Skills Training across the Commonwealth
Space House, an iconic landmark building in central London, built in the 1960s and sensitively restored and re-purposed by Seaforth to meet the changing needs and environmental challenges of the 21st century, provided the most appropriate venue for our highly successful Summer Reception in September this year. We strongly believe that in sharing expertise, best practice and common solutions to common problems, we can help each other recognise opportunities for conservation-led regeneration, sustainable economic growth, skills development, and training opportunities, so we were thrilled to be hosted in a building that exemplifies this in action to the highest standard.
Our Summer Reception celebrated two years of our Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Commonwealth Heritage Skills Training Programme, which is the largest ever investment in heritage skills in Commonwealth history. Our programmes are equipping communities across the Commonwealth with the practical skills and technical expertise to safeguard the heritage that they value. In just two years, and with a small but dedicated team, we have facilitated over 20 programmes across the Commonwealth, from training in the manufacture and use of lime in Hyderabad, India, to timber restoration works in Freetown, Sierra Leone. We rely on the generous support of individuals and organisations who give their technical advice freely and also through the monetary donations and grants that we receive. We are funded by the Vinehill Trust. This evening drinks reception was attended by a number of our key supporters and partners, including some of our trainees from programmes, and High Commissioners from Commonwealth countries.
Casting an eye forwards, we will hold a regular annual event to spotlight progress on current projects and on those still to come. Please do keep up to date with our news via our website and our social media. If you would like to support us, see the 'Join' tab, which gives a range of options.
Images, clockwise from top:
Exterior photograph of the newly renovated Space House, taken on the evening of the reception. Some of our guests enjoying a useful networking opportunity, over drinks and canapés. Philip Davies, Founder and CEO of the Commonwealth Heritage Forum delivering a brief talk on the progress we have made over the past two years. Tyler Goodwin, Founder and CEO of Seaforth, the company responsible for the conservation and re-development of Space House, and one of our key supporters.
Our International Launch
Australia House in London provided the venue for our hugely successful international launch on the evening of the 11th March 2020.
The evening attracted a full house, including High Commissioners from many Commonwealth countries, members of both houses of parliament, and leading architects and conservationists.
After warmly welcoming everyone, His Excellency George Brandis QC, the High Commissioner for Australia, spoke eloquently about the importance of working together across the Commonwealth to preserve our past and define our future. He stressed that ‘our family of nations share not only an architectural past, but a common future for the built environment’.
Our founding patron, Sir Rodney Williams, the Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda, a passionate believer in Commonwealth values, then gave the inaugural address: ‘we are the guardians of a unique heritage for those that come after us,’ he said. ‘Much is vulnerable, and we need to pass it on to future generations in a better state than we found it. Understanding this legacy, and the buildings and places that bear witness to it, is a crucial part of our individual identity and collective sense of belonging’.
Sir Rodney highlighted the challenges faced by small island states – climate change, hurricanes, fire, neglect, dereliction and inadequate resources. He welcomed the access to specialist expertise that the CHF could offer.
We were fortunate to have Yasmeen Lari, one of our most eminent International Advisory Committee members at the launch. Yasmeen was in London to collect the prestigious Jane Drew Prize for Women in Architecture. She told the audience about the pioneering work the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan had been doing in Karachi to promote the co-ordinated restoration and repair of shared heritage buildings where there is keen interest in setting up a local chapter of the CHF.
Chair of the CHF, Philip Davies explained that our shared built heritage had been crafted by local people over many generations. It is a key aspect of the national identity of many Commonwealth nations and the links that bind us together. ‘Each’, he said, is part of an extended family of nations whose lives, histories and futures are all deeply intertwined.’
Philip took the opportunity to announce a partnership with Oxford Brookes University and Texas A&M University to help countries prepare registers of heritage at risk starting with a pilot project in Barbados. This will involve working with local heritage bodies to train young people and volunteers in specialist techniques, which in turn will build local skills, employment opportunities and resilience.
The CHF can make a real difference.
Photos by David Madden @ www.dmphoto.co.uk
