Winchester Heritage Centre - Trust Annual Report 1985
The period since the last Annual Report has been one of consolidation and development aimed at making the Centre a place of interest catering for all tastes, with an ever-growing range of activities. Not every project has been an unqualified success. Nevertheless, there have been sufficient for those directly involved to claim that the Centre is now firmly established on the Winchester scene and is recognised as a place of some substance. This has been acknowledged by both Tourist Board and City Council.
Changes to the fabric of the Centre have been minimal apart from some minor improvements to the interior, and development of the facilities has been deliberately restricted. This was due firstly to uncertainty as to thespace needs should the application to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust be successful, and secondly because of the limited funds available for capital purposes.
However, developments during the year have cleared away some of these uncertainties and this will allow the Comm¬ittee much more flexibility in planning to make best use of the building.
Two developments are of considerable significance. Firstly the decision of the Carnegie U.K. Trust to award the Centre a grant of £12,000 for the creation of a permanent interpretive exhibition. This was especially gratifying as it was one of the biggest of its kind ever made by the Trust.
The second concerns - the tenure of the building. Our present licence runs until 31st December 1985. However, following publication of the Winchester Area Local Plan, we have been able to negotiate an extension until June 1988. In addition, the City has acknowledged the continuing need for the Heritage Centre and has promised to make every effort to find suitable alternative accommodation should the present building cease to be available at some future date.
Exhibitions - Until we were aware of the outcome of our application to the Carnegie Trust, the Display Committee had two objectives. Firstly to establish the Centre as a place with varied and interesting exhibitions appealing to the widest possible range of interests. Secondly to provide such exhibitions until such time as the Carnegie Award was resolved one way or another. In both these objectives the Committee was successful.
The year has seen a wide variety of exhibitions. Some have had greater appeal than others, but all have attracted good to moderate attendances.
The programme has included the following:-
M3 Exhibition
Cathedral Close
WPT Architectural Awards
Winchester Area Local Plan
Tourism in Winchester
Wildlife in Your City
Twyford Waterworks & Shawford Viaduct
Look Down on Your City (aerial views)
During all these exhibitions, one part of the display area has been set aside for current issues affecting the City and for displaying the work and achievements of the Trust. This has proved very popular and has certainly contributed to the success of the recruitment to the Trust during the year.
Activities - Initially, our plans for using the Centre as a base for activities of one sort or another were modest. However, during the year, and thanks to the great efforts of those concerned, developments in two directions have shown a steady increase.
Schoolchildren in the area have produced some impressive and interesting displays, and the Centre is becoming increasingly used by teachers for project and other purposes. Also, there is an ever-growing volume of talks and discussions on a wide range of topics which are proving very popular. Particular successes were the walks conducted by Chris Pines and Glyn Evans, the WEA Lectures by our President, Mrs. Barbara Carpenter Turner, and the talk on Twy ford Waterworks by Dr. Edwin Course.
Organisation - The Management Committee has been extremely fortunate in obtaining the services of several key people during the year. Mr. Alan Cooke has become Assistant Hon. Manager of the Centre and is proving a great help to Dr. George Swift. Mrs. Barbara Utting has taken on the demanding Hon. Secretaryship of the Management Committee. And more recently, following a decision by the Council of the Trust to make the Heritage Centre financially separate, Mr. Ivor Prescott has agreed to undertake the job of Hon. Treasurer.
Currently the various Sub-committees of the Centre are being re-shaped to meet new circumstances. A condition of the Carnegie grant is the employment of an Interpretive Consultant to advise on presentation. We have created a special project team to work with him by reconstituting the Display Sub-committee, which, having fulfilled its initial tasks, is being disbanded. Mrs. Rosemary Smith will continue to maintain the Current Affairs section of the exhibition, which will remain when the permanent exhibition is installed.
The Education Sub-committee has been disbanded and is now incorporated into a new group created to generate the widest possible range of activities, including walks, discussion groups, lunchtime lectures and the further de¬velopment of schools projects. We are fortunate in having Mr. Frank Chippindale agree to chair this group and look forward to an ever increasing range of subjects of interest to members of the Trust and others.
Finance - Donations included £500 from Marks & Spencer and (thanks to Mr. Alan Cooke) £250 from Shell U.K. These sums are earmarked to buy furniture and equipment for the Centre.
Thanks to the good response by members for secondhand books and records, and the excellent work of Mr. and Mrs. John Balchin and Dr. Swift, the last Book Sale was very successful and raised some £300. A continuing supply of books is required for future sales.
The Summer Soiree, so well organised by Mrs. Angela Stansfield Smith and her small band of volunteers, was a great success. Apart from proving to be a most enjoyable event, it has produced a profit for the Centre of some £700 - a very gratifying result.
The success of these and other ventures, donations received, and sales at the Centre, will go a long way towards meeting the cost of the Centre for this year and will ease our worries about the cost of roof repairs which we are likely to have to face next year.
The Future - The most significant future event will be the creation of the exhibition made possible by the Carnegie Award. It is hoped that this will be completed by Easter 1986. However, important as this is, it should not allow us to become diverted from the even more important objective of making the Centre a focal point of interest and activity for the widest range of Winchester residents. To this end, much is expected from the new Sub-committee set up to foster these activities. It is in this area that we hope to see the most significant progress.
As always, we are very dependent upon those members who volunteer their time to man the. Centre. Without them the Centre would have made little or no progress. However, more are needed. If any member can help or knows of others (not necessarily members) who might be prepared to do so, please let us know.