The IHBC has circulated a new ‘IHBC Branch Committee Bulletin, from the IHBC’s Director’, to update our Branches on strategic developments, so if you are keen to find out more on any points below, just check in with your Branch Committee, and keep up on the details on our news and other services.
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The IHBC has circulated a new ‘IHBC Branch Committee Bulletin, from the IHBC’s Director’, to update committees on strategic developments, so if you are keen to find out more on any points below, just check in with your Branch Officers.
IHBC Director Seán O’Reilly writes:
I’m writing to let you know about some more substantial recent developments and initiatives in the work of the IHBC’s National Office, as well as a few new opportunities.
Please feel free to circulate this to your Committee or wider as suits, and/or to inform Branch communications. More detailed updates will appear in our NewsBlogs etc when available.
Branch capacity and consultant support updates
Branch volunteers are critical to the IHBC’s low-cost service and practice model, and we know need all the support, guidance and recognition we can offer.
Fortunately, our recent NewsBlog calls for service support arrangements for Branches and volunteers have produced a welcome variety of offers and opportunities. We are now working to formalise a small network of part-time, heritage-linked consultant leads (currently 3) to provide a service reaching across the UK (and maybe beyond!). The hope is that each consultant will offer regional support for Branches while facilitating access to National Office services and networks.
We are also working with a consultant specialising in design and communications to enable Branch networks to access more technical support, with full details imminent.
2025 Shrewsbury School sponsor funding options for Branch events linked to topic of ‘Heritage in Context’
Our new consultant posts will add capacity to the already extended role the National Office now plays in managing our Annual Schools. The West Midlands Branch is already well ahead in arrangements for the 2025 School, on 12/13-15 June, with the landing page HERE and with tour options largely scoped. Now we’re looking at lead speakers – with some details to come soon – so we’re sure we’ll be able to offer an exemplary follow up to Reading’s blended format.
We are also extending our new School model. The Board recently agreed we follow the current trajectory: reducing pressure on Branches that host Schools, while extending our reach through offering blended access as a default. In itself, online access ensures more diverse routes to participation, while we are also encouraging Branches to offer local CPD and learning linked to the School theme.
Accordingly, our 2024 and 2025 School Reception sponsor, Velux, has agreed to sponsor local Branch events linked to the School theme – directly or otherwise – where there is an opportunity to discuss their products. Our new consultants’ network also will be available to guide Branches on how to take advantage of such initiatives, though new practices will take time to refine. Hopefully it will soon become easier to tap into sponsorship opportunities to keep costs and fees on local events to a minimum. Obviously there’s no formal endorsement of sponsors etc., only the chance to talk and learn in the best spirit of IHBC CPD!
IHBC’s Petition for Charter exploration and update
Following the resounding support at our last AGM to advance the exploration of the Charter through the submission of a ‘Memorandum’ outlining our case – ‘NewsBlogged’ HERE – National Office networks have been busy advancing this, including also our elected officers and linked Petition for Charter Working Group. If the charter is a mystery to you, take a look at our linked consultation website – currently being updated – for the background and progress. If it’s still a mystery… just get in touch!
Apart from gathering the data and aligning the case with official guidance, we have been busy gathering sector-wide notes of support and more from key players, led especially by IHBC Chair David McDonald. We have been responding to, addressing and planning solutions to queries and more raised as part of the consultation process. Regardless of success in any formal application (should it happen), the critical issue for us recently has been the extent of formal support within our own heritage sector. Happily it has been substantial and, to date, universal!
Indeed we are delighted to have received such a broad suite of commendations and more, from a wide range of chartered – and so far mostly un-chartered – bodies. That reflects in no small way the success that so many of our Branches, volunteers and linked networks have had in carrying the IHBC’s message and practice standards across the UK.
Free MATE Accreditation sessions piloting new forms: Sector-specific sessions– 9/12 (Churches etc.), 11/12 (LAs) & 13/12 (Private sector)
You may have seen the invitation from our Chair and Membership Secretary to all members to attend free MATE Accreditation sessions piloting our evolving new application forms. For now, we are offering sector-specific (but not ‘sector exclusive’) events in mid-December. All are at 2.30pm, and will cover Churches (9th) local authorities (11th) & the private sector (13th). You can see more background HERE and sign up for your choice HERE, with more free pilots to come in 2025 if these sessions are full.
As our Chair says of the new forms, the ‘changes simplify access to our practice standards by minimising those procedures that underpin our assessment of competence in interdisciplinary conservation practice’.
So please feel free to sign up for these or future sessions, and also encourage anyone interested in developing the membership with us to take a look at our streamlined processes too.
Branch Committee confab (online): New plans with suggestions sought
We are also looking at another accessible online ‘Branch Committee Connection’ event, likely in the coming months, to promote networking across Branches.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions on content etc. please let myself or any in the National Office know, and we’ll co-ordinate thoughts at our end. We would hope to outline in detail the new support leads and services at that point as well.
Reminder on images and Copyright: Use only content where permission is granted
We’d again like to remind all Branches producing publications of the need to avoid using images that might break copyright laws, however inadvertently. You need to have actual ownership, or have direct specific permission to use, any image. Just crediting the copyright is not sufficient.
This is a litigious world as many of you will know, and the best way to avoid the problem is to avoid using ANY images that may not be yours, your members, or known to be copyright-free. If you are unsure, send the details to Joanna Theobald at contact@ihbc.org.uk for more substantial advice.
Branch Guidance Page and finance update
The IHBC’s Branch Guidance web page has lots of useful resources and links, but can be hard to navigate, especially when in a rush. Please do get in touch with the myself or others in the National Office if there’s any specific guidance needed.
Currently our priority is Branch finances, as Branches now have less than two weeks to get the financial return and statements to Lydia Porter in the National Office. She has notified all Branches of the date, and a spreadsheet link can be found under the Branch Financial Returns section of the Branch webpage HERE.
Wider developments and feedback
These are just a few of the new developments we will highlight to all Branch Committees in future Bulletins.
Our NewsBlog update on ‘IHBC’s new ‘Board insight’… NewsBlogs etc on recent achievements’ also summarises some more recent achievements as highlighted to the Board. Of course our news service and linked publications will carry the most up-to-date information, so please do keep up to date using those.
In the interim please feel free to email me on any of the points above, or indeed on any matters you’d like addressed here or elsewhere. If I’m not the best person here to respond, I’ll be sure to pass it on to the right lead.
Cheers, and as ever our thanks and appreciation for the hard work done by you and your volunteers and colleagues.
