The Tyne & Wear Heritage Forum – an alliance of key heritage bodies and individuals in the North East – will host the first annual Tyne and Wear Heritage Conference on January 23, 2016 at The Biscuit Factory, titled ‘Innovation, Invention, Industrialisation’.
The event, which will see the coming together of all local heritage and history groups in the region with members of the public, is the first step in a project to engage local communities in the preservation of their local heritage.
The conference forms part of a larger project called HeritageACT! which will be officially launched at the event, and is designed to help support and encourage local communities to take responsibility for heritage features in their own regions.
HeritageACT! will seek to protect and preserve significant local heritage features at risk by building on the expert advice and support offered to delegates through workshops at the conference.
The forum is also welcoming award-winning broadcaster Adam Hart-Davis to the programme. Adam, who has presented a number of history programmes including the BBC’s Local Heroes and What the Romans Did for Us, has long been an ambassador of Industrial Heritage.
John Daniels, Chair of the Tyne & Wear Heritage Forum, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to celebrate our region and the very special contribution made here during the Industrial Revolution, and to engage communities in work to preserve those surviving heritage features associated with this period.
“It’s great to have Adam associated with the event and we’re looking forward to welcoming him back to the region and to the Tyne & Wear Heritage Conference.
“At a time of restricted public funding for protection and preservation of heritage, we’re seeking to make a tangible and significant impact on the local environment, for the benefit of those who live and work here, and businesses which are based here. Our first annual conference will signal the start of what we are sure will be a very exciting project for the area.”
Registration for the conference is now open. Book a place online at www.twhf.co.uk
For more information about the Tyne & Wear Heritage Forum or HeritageACT! visit www.twhf.co.uk