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March: Shaping your event - Partnerships & Opportunities

This is the month to take advantage of a HODs workshop in your region. These workshops are usually held in spring throughout England and provide an excellent opportunity to meet fellow organisers and to possibly form new partnerships.

You Are Not Alone

Although it is possible to just open a single building in an area, you can also look out for potential partners in your immediate neighbourhood and within your community. Teaming up with other individuals and organisations makes good sense, as they can add or provide access to different skills, resources, volunteers, contacts, promotional channels and audience groups. In fact, the most sustainable and successful HODs events are often those, where different local organisations have joined forces.

In Tyne & Wear for instance a steering group consisting of representatives of all five councils (Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside), English Heritage, the Newcastle Association of City Guides, North of England Civic Trust and the Sunderland Heritage & Local History Forum have been steadily expanding and improving their programme since 2001. There are also many civic societies who share work load and resources with their council. While the local authority often provides funding for promotion and marketing, the societies contribute their volunteer force and knowledge of the area.

So, why not have a think who’s out there who might be able to add value to your event! Have you, for instance, thought of contacting any of the following groups and organisations to ask them to get involved?

  • A whole range of local amenity societies, e.g. civic societies, preservation trusts, history societies, family history societies, archaeological societies, NADFAS groups, friends groups etc,
  • Various departments at your local authority, e.g. planning, environment, community arts, tourism etc,
  • Your local Heritage or Design Champion,
  • Other faith groups,
  • Scouts, Girl Guides and other youth volunteering groups,
  • Local media,
  • Blue Badge Guides,
  • Schools and other educational organisations,
  • Companies, e.g. transport companies, big local employers, hotels and restaurants, printers. We are sure you can think of many ways to benefitt from linking up with other appropriate organisations. Contacts of many local organisations can be found on the Community Services pages of many council web pages.

Working With Schools

If you wish to work in partnership on your event with schools, and we do hope you will, now is the time to think about involving them in projects that can be done in the second half of the summer term ready to present over the HODs weekend. Schools do their planning a long way in advance and you’ll need to contact them and any youth groups you’d like to participate as early in the year as possible.


1. Heritage Champions Fact File (coming soon)
2. Tips for working with schools and youth groups