In the latest instalment of the Historic Environment Forum’s Sector Resilience Interviews series focussed on the theme of Policy, we hear from Robin Hughes, trustee at Joined Up Heritage Sheffield.
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your role.
I am a trustee of registered charity Joined Up Heritage Sheffield. We are an umbrella organisation which seeks to provide a focus and resource for community-based heritage organisations throughout the city. We have some 700 associated supporters, both organisations and individuals, a diverse group united by a wish to champion the city’s rich heritage, empower everyone to take an interest in it and develop resources to improve their ability to engage with heritage.
JUHS was created about 8 years ago in response to a feeling amongst many community heritage groups and campaigners that heritage and its benefits were not receiving the recognition that they deserved and that without this both physical and intangible heritage were at risk. The Council is a critical decision maker and thought leader, but its attitude to heritage was widely perceived as needing a great deal of improvement. From an environment of very low levels of communication and trust, with heritage considered to be mainly a planning matter and of low priority generally, we have developed the relationship to the point where a community-written strategy is being incorporated in Council policy.
JUHS also seeks to create opportunities for people in the heritage sector to share ideas, challenges, opportunities and solutions and to make heritage more visible to the wider public. We do this through bi-monthly open meetings, a website where heritage groups can publicise their activities and ad hoc events such as public talks.
What can you tell us about your work in relation to Policy? What does this work aim to achieve?
Our major project to date has been the production of the city’s first Heritage Strategy. We believe it to be unique in having been developed by community organisations, from the grassroots, unlike other strategies which have been produced by local authorities. It was also a case study in collaboration: both universities provided support, and the production of the strategy document itself was funded by the University of Sheffield. In February 2024 this strategy was adopted by the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee of Sheffield City Council and added to their work programme.
We have also been instrumental in setting up the Sheffield Heritage Partnership Board, which brings together other organisations within Sheffield to promote a strategic approach to heritage within both the local authority and other decision makers and stakeholders. Partners currently include the Council, the two universities, Sheffield Museums and Sheffield Property Association. The Partnership is the basis for a collaboration with the Council to design the implementation of the Heritage Strategy within their policies.
What contribution will this make towards resilience in the heritage sector?
People who care about heritage and want to keep it alive and celebrate it need decision-makers who are aligned with the same aims. If heritage is not a priority for decision-makers, much of our time and effort is taken up with battles: first to be heard, then to be understood, and (hardest of all) to achieve change. Instead, we want to direct our efforts to the work that produces positive outcomes and value. The waste of time and effort and the frustration and futility so often experienced in the heritage sector are direct threats, sapping our limited resources. Get the decision-makers on side and we are already stronger and more resilient.
What does success look like for your work?
The adoption of the Heritage Strategy by Sheffield City Council is an important success already delivered. We are now working towards other major decision makers either adopting the strategy or creating their own plans for heritage inspired by the aims of the strategy.
Success in the short term means seeing Council plans and strategies explicitly integrating the adopted strategy. Their Council Plan 2024-2028 which sets out their role in helping the city achieve its ambitions was updated to recognise the heritage value of some proposals, and the draft Growth Plan 2025-2035 has been significantly changed following our input to express the role of heritage in the wider economy, rather than confining it to a single “cultural” sector. As new plans come forward we will seek similar changes.
In the longer term the challenge will be to translate these aspirations into reality. That should translate into such things as regeneration proposals seeking to retain and restore far more of the historic environment, public understanding and celebration of heritage being integral to such proposals from the start, more funding being sought and won from the Government, National Lottery Heritage Fund and others, reputational change for the Council, more communication between different heritage interests (especially those of previously underserved groups), greater use of heritage as a tool in education and health, more focus on heritage skills and retrofitting generally, a wider role for both tangible and intangible heritage in the visitor economy, and much more.
We have no defined metrics for this. For the time being it can be measured by comparison with previous experience. For example, the very fact that a new Council plan includes more than token mention of the words “heritage” or “history” demonstrates some degree of success.
How can we get involved, or where can we find out more?
- Visit our website at https://www.joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk/
- Read the Heritage Strategy at https://www.joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk/heritage-strategy
- Join one of our bi-monthly open meetings, posted to our events calendar at https://www.joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk/events/
- Email info@joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk or fill in our contact form at https://www.joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk/contact/.
Overall, what do you think is most crucial for ensuring a resilient heritage sector?
The community – people, institutions, organisations, governors – need to show a united face and share common goals. This is what will win support from funders, investors, and the public.
This Sector Resilience interview was shared by Robin as part of our Heritage Sector Resilience Plan activities.
If you’d like to contribute an interview as part of the series, follow the link below to find out more:
