Archived decisions

Hampshire County Council

Executive Member for Policy and Resources Item 3

16 May 2008

The English Project

Report of the Director of Recreation & Heritage

Contact: Russell Cleaver Tel. ext. 6883 e-mail: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report proposes a grant to support the English Project, a charity whose aim is to establish a permanent and growing exhibition of the story of the English language. Its home base is proposed to be a building in Winchester but it will also exist as a world-class website, with a research function and extensive educational outreach activities.

2. Recommendation

2.1 That the County Council supports the English Project and a grant of £20,000 be awarded from the Policy and Resources grants budget to enable it to undertake the necessary preparatory work required for an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to site the English Project in Winchester.

2.2 That the making of a further grant be approved "in principle" at this stage but subject to a further report and detailed budget to the Executive Member.

3. Background

3.1 The English Project is a recently registered charity, whose campaign for a `language multi-centre' has captured the support of the BBC, the English Speaking Union, the British Council, the British Library and was launched at the University of Winchester earlier this year. Its mission is to deepen people's understanding of our language and ensure all English speakers across the world can better appreciate and enjoy the wealth of our common heritage.

3.2 The preferred venue for the English Projects base is Winchester, since Alfred the Great had a seminal impact on the formal development of the language. An existing building in Winchester has already been identified as the possible home for the project to provide both a physical and virtual portal to a wide range of facilities, resources and activities. One of its key outcomes will be to provide an educational outreach programme; which is likely to have considerable implications for the teaching of English in Hampshire schools.

3.3 The English Project aim for their language multi-centre to be ready by 2012, in time for the opening of the Olympic Games. Their campaign of rolling events to publicise the Project has already secured the support of Winchester City Council and they have now approached Hampshire County Council to seek backing for essential, preliminary studies that will inform the costed business plan and will include other detailed Project Planning documents. (See attached document from Evelyn Thurlby)

4. Preliminary Studies

4.1 A key preliminary study for the English Project will be the preparation of an Education Plan. (Any major Heritage Lottery Fund application will require the project to submit a sophisticated education programme to be produced in association with a local authority.). Such a cooperation between Hampshire County Council local authority officers or schools and the English Project would necessarily result in an education programme that will be of great benefit to schools and children in Hampshire.

4.2 Representatives of Property, Business and Regulatory Services (PBRS) and the Trustees had a preliminary meeting in April to clarify the level of architectural assistance required by the Trust as initial support towards a potential bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. This would help them to define the programme and enable them to establish the further work to support a viable bid. The proposal centres around the re- use of a 1800 sqm building in central Winchester to house the visitor centre. The Acting Director of PBRS is agreeable to providing assistance up to a value of £5,000, to guide the Trustees through the building feasibility stages. This would come from resources available to Policy and Resources for feasibility work. The appendix submitted by the Trustees which sets out the estimated costs makes no allowance for condition and structural survey reports. Therefore, due to the limited amount of information available about the preferred building, it is suggested that further discussions take place with the Trustees before any firm level of commitment is given to support this project.

4.3 Other preliminary studies that the English Project will have to submit to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) will have to include an options appraisal and a fully costed business plan.

4.4 It is likely that the cost of producing these studies will be in excess of £220,000. The English Project have currently raised £46,000, via a project grant from the HLF; £10,000 from Winchester City Council and have applied for £10,000 from the University of Winchester. Other sources are being sought but a shortfall of about £100,000 has still to be covered.

4.5 It is suggested that Hampshire County Council support the production of such preliminary studies and that grant aid be offered to the English Project, initially for a sum of £20,000 funded from the Policy and Resources grants to voluntary organisations budget.

4.6 Another report will be made to the Executive Member on the English Project's preparation of an educational plan and following further detailed discussions with County Council officers. Any further financial support can then be considered by the Executive Member at that stage.

5. Legal Powers

5.1 The Council has broad powers under S.145 Local Government Act 1972 to provide financial support for the arts. These include the power to contribute towards the expenses of anything necessary or expedient for the development and improvement of the knowledge, understanding and practice of the arts.

6. Conclusion

6.1 The English Project is an innovative, far-reaching campaign that has engendered impressive national support for its aims of establishing an international centre in Winchester for the study and appreciation of the global impact of the English language.

6.2 It is foreseeable that this Project will offer significant educational benefits to Hampshire residents. However, once the development of the English Project gathers momentum it is likely to attract wider audiences and other partners. Consequently, the likelihood exists that in due course additional benefits, as yet unforeseen, will accrue to Hampshire residents.

LINKS TO CORPORATE STRATEGY

Yes No

Hampshire safer and more secure for all

Maximising well-being ü

Enhancing our quality of place ü

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the act.

TITLE LOCATION

None

The English Project

HCC Grant Application

Introduction

The report presents the case for support to The English Project (EP), registered charity no 112132 to undertake the studies necessary to complete an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a major capital grant.

Background

The English Language is possibly our country's main heritage possession. Winchester, where King Alfred instructed monks to make the first formal translations from Latin into what became English, can legitimately claim to be the cradle of the language.

What we aim to create has no precedent, we believe, in the English-speaking world. A handful of language `museums' are starting to emerge but none like the English Project which aims to operate in four dimensions - a world class visitor attraction in Winchester, a powerful on-line presence, an ambitious educational outreach capacity and a research and development function to track developments in the language and then present them in a way which will catch the interest of the man, woman and child in the street.

Our Mission is to deepen people's understanding and knowledge of the richness of the English language, its history and continuing development so that all English speakers everywhere can better appreciate, use and enjoy the language.

We have won the support of a wide range of key national institutions - such as the BBC, the British Council, the English-Speaking Union, and the University of Winchester which has agreed to underwrite our scholarly and academic credentials - and powerful individuals such as Lord Hunt, Chairman of the English-Speaking Union and Professor David Crystal, the world's leading expert in the English language.

The original idea for the English Project came as a desire to leave a lasting legacy from the Hyde 900 celebrations in 2010 in Winchester. For the last two years a small group of dedicated volunteers have worked hard to develop the idea into a viable project concept and initiate a campaign to launch the project. This work culminated on March 5^th 2008 with a lecture by Professor David Crystal at the University of Winchester on `The Future of Englishes'. This lecture secured national coverage for the English Project in The Times and the Daily Telegraph and a five -minute segment on BBC South Today. We have also been awarded a Project Planning Grant worth £46,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to undertake a collections audit, an audience development plan and a learning plan.

The purpose of this next phase of work is:

· to provide evidence of the need for this project

· determine the means to execute and implement the project's aims

· to prove that when delivered it will be sustainable

· to pilot an education project in Hampshire schools, and

· to prepare an application to HLF for a major capital grant.

The point has been reached where the work to be done is beyond the capacity of volunteers. The Trustees need to commission professional advisers and consultants to undertake the preparatory work necessary to raise the capital to deliver the project and secure the site.

This will require the preparation of a site specific costed business plan and a significant PR campaign to place the project on the national stage. Specifically we need funds to complete the following tasks:

· Delivery of funded HLF Project

· Fundraising

· Raising the Project's Profile

· Business Plan

· Education Pilot Project (HLF `Your Heritage' Grant application )

· Human Capacity and Organisation Development

· HLF major Capital Grant application

· EP Online - research and development

· EP Research Observatory - research and development

The proposed budget for the work programme as outlined above is:

The available funding is:

The Trustees of the English Project are requesting a grant of £100,000 from HCC which would close the funding gap and enable them to commission the work necessary to complete this very important next step in the delivery of the English Project. It is anticipated that this work will take about 9 months to complete culminating in an application to HLF in December 2008.

The Trustees believe that this project will bring significant benefits to the County by contributing to the visitor economy, English language education in Hampshire schools, supporting the county's creative and cultural industries, and in establishing its position as a leader in English language research, learning and teaching. It links to the County's corporate strategy, `Enhancing our quality of place'. The Trustees are looking forward to establishing good working relationships with the County's education, recreation and heritage, and architects departments.

More information on the project is available on the website: www.englishproject.org

Evelyn Thurlby, Trustee: [email protected] Tel: 01962 852868.