Heritage Open Days - TrustNews Dec 18
Through the dedicated hard work and enduring enthusiasm of the two directors, Nicky Gottlieb and Becky Brown, the festival of Heritage Open Days in Winchester has developed over a few years into a popular range of events which ran over four days between the 13th and 16th September. Their work over many months saw the 2018 festival attract nearly 20,000 people visiting 112 events in more than 60 places in and around Winchester; that is double the number of visitors who attended in 2017, with everything on offer being free to attend. That is a tribute to the effectiveness of the advertising and other promotional activities undertaken by the directors. From the initial analysis, over half the people attended for the first time and it also reveals that half of them said they would not have come to Winchester if the festival had not taken place, thus showing how heritage related activities are a major contributor to the economy of Winchester which can easily be overlooked.
As in previous years the Trust helped with applications for grants and increased its own financial contribution and administrative support to the festival. We also recruited a good number of trustees and members as volunteers to help with the street stall in the run up to the festival and over the 4 days of the festival itself. The Trust again opened and manned the Heritage Centre for the 4 days with a display of photographs of different Winchester buildings and spaces comparing how they appeared a century or so ago and with how they are seen today which generated much interest and discussion among the almost 400 people who called in over that time.
Thoughts have already turned to the 2019 festival with ideas being considered about a theme and how to maintain and expand the variety of events and engagement of a wider range of people, such as schools. The enthusiastic support of several large institutions such as Winchester University and Winchester College was a great help in delivering the number of events in 2018 and their continued participation will be an important element in maintaining the scale in 2019. Until now nearly all the work has been by unpaid volunteers and some additional paid administrative help is going to be needed in 2019 to ease the strain on the 2 directors. A small financial surplus from 2018 will be a useful bonus in the search for financial support for next year's events.
John Beveridge