Adventures in Preservation was founded in 2001 by two women with a great love of historic buildings and a strong desire to travel and understand the world. While perusing the travel section of the Boulder Bookstore, the Volunteer Vacation section suddenly brought everything into focus. Judith Broeker and Jamie Donahoe combined their goal of saving historic buildings with the concept of experiential travel, and created AiP’s hands-on preservation vacations.

Work started on several sites in the U.S., and as word spread, requests for help began to pour in from around the world, underscoring the great potential of using volunteers to restore historic buildings. In supporting community-based preservation initiatives, we discovered that our love of old buildings could translate into environmental and economic sustainability for communities.

Adventures in Preservation has become a leader in offering volunteer vacations directed toward saving distinctive architecture that defines a region’s history and culture. The fact that historic preservation is innately “green” provides yet another compelling reason for restoring historic buildings for integrated community use, from affordable housing to community centers.

Adventures in Preservation’s staff and volunteers work with passion to save the world’s architectural heritage with the goal of benefiting communities worldwide. We are dedicated to bringing people and preservation together in meaningful partnerships.

AiP Vision - AiP envisions a world where people use, understand, and appreciate historic buildings that are vital to economic and environmental sustainability and preserve cultural identity.

The Trust’s vision is to be one of the UK’s most impactful grant giving charities. Our mission is to equip and empower Christian organisations to have a positive and transformative impact on lives and communities. We welcome applications from churches and Christian charities from all parts of the UK and Ireland, particularly from areas of deprivation.

We support the repair, restoration, protection and improvement of church buildings, cathedrals and other places of Christian worship, especially where those changes support wider community use. Our grants also equip Christian charities and churches to help the most vulnerable and tackle social issues, including homelessness, poverty, climate change and cultural cohesion; and we provide funding for projects that support church growth and leadership and share the Christian faith.

We also work with selected partners to preserve the UK and Ireland's rich history through funding to build and protect sustainable heritage skills (note that the heritage grants programme is not open to applications).

You can find out more about all of our grants programmes by hovering over the ‘what we fund’ header in the navigation bar, and on the how to apply page.

There have been almshouses in the United Kingdom for more than 1000 years, with the oldest almshouse charity foundation still in existence being the Hospital of St Oswald in Worcester founded in 990. Many are old, often beautiful historic buildings, others are more modern and some are newly built. What they all have in common is their provision of affordable housing and support for the needy or vulnerable, often older people and are usually managed by local trustees.

The Association traces its roots back to February 1946 when, at a meeting held in the Chapter House of Southwark Cathedral, representatives of London’s almshouses formed a committee to safeguard the interests of almshouse buildings and the welfare of residents.

In 1950, the committee extended its remit, and the National Association of Almshouses (The Almshouse Association) was born. The objects of the Association are to assist charity trustees to manage their resources effectively, to support them in providing good quality housing for those in need, to promote the welfare and independence of residents and to preserve the historic tradition of almshouses for future generations.

Today, The Almshouse Association is an essential component of the almshouse movement; we continue to provide support, information and guidance on a broad range of general and specific issues, to over 1600 independent almshouse member charities that provide homes for around 35,000 residents across the United Kingdom.

Over the years our services have extended to include guidance manuals, policy documents and model templates, training seminars, interest-free loans and funding, as well as providing a platform for members to advertise resident vacancies, discuss best practices and share knowledge at local meetings and via our members’ forum.

We meet regularly with the Charity Commission (the regulator for almshouses), Homes England, and have set up an All Party Parliamentary Group for Almshouses (APPG). As regulation and housing standards and expectations change, there is a need for almshouses to meet those changes by updating policies and procedures and modernising dwellings where possible and to ensure modern standards are provided in new buildings. The Almshouse Association is on hand to ensure our members are kept up to date with changes in legislation and give advice on all aspects of a building project.

Almshouses are managed by volunteer trustees and are often built in relatively small groups that become an enduring and important part of the fabric of their local community; local craftsmen and materials have traditionally been used. Trustees (or governors) of almshouse charities are usually people who want to become involved in their local almshouses in order to provide good quality accommodation for people in need in their area. Click here to find out more about Trusteeship

The Association has its own Board of Trustees, based in different areas of the UK with local knowledge that permits them to advise and assist charities in their given counties.

We produce a quarterly Almshouses Gazette which is sent to all our members. We endeavour to make the content informative and attractive – generally speaking 50% will be articles on current issues and 50% will be news stories sent in by our member charities.

Our members pay a subscription fee which covers around 50% of our annual running costs. For the remainder, to ensure we continue to provide all these services we fund-raise and seek sponsorship. 80% of almshouse charities are small, providing fewer than 20 dwellings and the volunteer trustees rely solely on weekly maintenance contributions from residents to remain viable. With voluntary support, as well as providing advice and guidance, The Association can assist almshouse charities by way of interest free loans to cover the cost of ongoing repairs as well as remodelling and modernisation. If you would like to donate or leave a legacy, your support and generosity would be gratefully received. Please click here for further information

We advocate for the value of architecture and give architects the resources they need to do their best work. Our work drives positive change through the power of design.

In addition, to our values, we have developed a series of “Where We Stand” statements that clarify its position on key issues facing the profession:

- Climate change
- Equity, diversity and inclusion
- Immigration
- Infrastructure
- Licensure
- School design and student safety
- Sexual harassment
- Sustainability

ARB was established by Parliament in 1997 to regulate the architects’ profession in the UK. We are an independent, public interest body and our work in regulating architects ensures that good standards within the profession are consistently maintained for the benefit of the public and architects alike.

Our duties are contained in the 1997 Architects Act, and cover six main areas:

- Prescribing – or ‘recognising’ – the qualifications needed to become an architect
- Keeping the UK Register of Architects
- Ensuring that architects meet our standards for conduct and practice
- Investigating complaints about an architect’s conduct or competence
- Making sure that only people on our Register offer their services as an architect.
- Acting as the UK’s regulatory authority for architects

Our work is overseen by a Board of 11 members all appointed by the Privy Council.

This includes one independent, non-executive Chair and ten non-executive Board members made up of five members of the public and five architects.

We are Scotland’s design champion. We believe in the power of design to improve people’s lives. We bring people together to make better places for everyone.

Architecture and Design Scotland has set out its plans for the coming decade in its new Corporate Strategy for 2021-31. Click here to read the A&DS Corporate Strategy for 2021-31. In this document you will find out how A&DS plans to work with to see the Place Principle become an everyday reality in the way Scotland’s places are created, adapted and sustained.
Our vision

A Scotland whose places are healthy, sustainable and thriving, where everyone works together to shape their future.

Our Aim - To see the benefits of the Place Principle become an everyday reality in the way Scotland’s places are created, adapted and sustained.

Context - Design can help realise the country’s ambitions, captured in initiatives such as Housing to 2040, 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Community Wealth Building, Town Centre Regeneration and Community-Led Regeneration. In this context the design of our places is central to realising the National Outcomes in the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework.

Our role is described in Creating Places, Scotland’s Policy for Architecture and Place. We were set up in 2005 by the Scottish Government and we are an executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB).

How we can help - A core aim of our strategy is to create the conditions that will ensure that the Place Principle becomes the ‘new normal’ for those involved in planning, designing, delivering and sustaining Scotland’s places.

We also know from experience that a place is better when the people who live there work together to shape it. The Place Principle, adopted by the Scottish Government in 2019, asks agencies in a place to collaborate with the people who live there to create a shared vision for its future.

Our role will be to provide leadership on the spatial aspects of the Place Principle to stimulate a step-change in how Scotland’s places are planned, designed, delivered and sustained. We will work with our partners to demonstrate what a joined-up approach looks like and the benefits it brings. We will use our experience and professional skills to inspire and support all those involved in creating, adapting and sustaining Scotland’s places.

Ultimately, our strategy is to use our remit and expertise to tackle the big challenges we all face. Above all, A&DS is about bringing people together to create better places for everyone.

Art and Christianity seeks to foster and explore the dialogue between art, Christianity and other religious faiths. Through events, publications and consultation, we offer

- education, enquiry and exchange with regard to the relationship between art and faith
- collaboration and partnership with galleries, art institutions and places of worship
- advocacy for and advice on commissioning works of art
- awareness-raising of the diversity of historical and contemporary art in churches

A brief history of Art and Christianity (formerly ACE)

In the late 1980s the late Tom Devonshire Jones (1934-2015), then vicar of St Mark's Regents Park, began making formal connections between the individuals who he knew shared his passion for and knowledge of art and Christianity.

In 1991, Art and Christianity Enquiry, as it had been named, hosted its first series of seminars entitled 'Art – theology – church' and gathered academics, clergy and artists from around the world to meet in London for its first international conference.

By January 1994 the charitable trust had been formed and ACE continued to hold events and lectures, as well as the biennial international conference. In 1995 ACE began publishing its quarterly newsletter then known as the ‘Bulletin’, now an internationally respected 20-page journal called Art and Christianity. In December 2017, the trustee board agreed to shorten the name of the organisation to Art and Christianity.

We are the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision.

The funding (money) we distribute comes from both the Welsh Government and The National Lottery. Most of our funding goes to artists and arts organisations carrying out programmes of work across Wales.

Sometimes we also run our own projects, especially where these explore new areas of arts activity, or help us to persuade other organisations to take an interest in the arts.

As a public body, it’s very important that everything we do is open and accessible to all, and that the way we're structured is also transparent. By clicking the links in the sidemenu on the left, you can read more about our council, the committees that advise the council on specific issues, and the staff that embody the Arts Council of Wales mantra: making the arts central to the life and wellbeing of the nation.

The Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS) was founded in 1977 for the purpose of furthering the study and preservation of gravestones. AGS is an international organization with an interest in gravemarkers of all periods and styles. Through its publications, conferences, workshops and exhibits, AGS promotes the study of gravestones from historical and artistic perspectives, expands public awareness of the significance of historic gravemarkers, and encourages individuals and groups to record and preserve gravestones. At every opportunity, AGS cooperates with groups that have similar interests.

Conferences: An annual conference, held in June, features lectures, guided cemetery tours, slide presentations, exhibits, classes, and documentation and conservation workshops. Fellow enthusiasts will join together for an enjoyable, informative and fun five days of learning and camaraderie.

Membership benefits include the AGS Quarterly magazine, and a monthly e-newsletter. Both feature articles, book reviews, research material, and items of general interest to AGS members. Members also receive Markers: Annual Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies; and discounts on AGS publications. AGS has approximately 1,000 members worldwide, including members in England, Scotland, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, Japan and Brazil. Membership categories are discussed further in our membership page.

If you share any of these interests—art, history, art history, genealogy, archaeology, anthropology, conservation, or material culture, please join us and support our work. There is much to do and we eagerly solicit your participation. We would enjoy meeting you, learning of your interests, and including you in our activities.

What is interpretation? Interpretation is a communication process that shares interesting stories and experience’s that help people make sense of, and understand more about, a site, collection or event.

Interpreters come from all walks of life. They can be teachers, storytellers, writers, artists, curators, designers and scientists. However, they all share a passion for crafting engaging memorable experiences that connect people to our heritage. It is through these experiences that we can enhance people’s appreciation and understanding of their heritage.
About AHI

The Association for Heritage Interpretation is an invaluable group for anyone interested in interpretation – the art of helping people explore and appreciate our world. We offer a forum for ideas, debate, networking and sharing good practice. We bring together people actively involved or concerned with interpretation of natural and cultural heritage. If you’re working, training or just keenly interested in heritage interpretation, then AHI is a great place to be.

Who we are - We are a forum for all professionals working in the field of architectural conservation. Our current membership of more than 350 includes architects, surveyors, engineers, conservators, scientists, archaeologists, building performance experts, historians, government advisors, property and estate managers, and many other professionals.

We look at issues involving all types and periods of significant buildings, monuments, and landscapes. ASCHB also maintains close links with other organisations, such as English Heritage, the SPAB, IHBC, EASA and COTAC.
What we do

ASCHB was formed in 1968 by the staff and students of the Institute of Archaeology’s diploma course in building conservation to encourage the free exchange of ideas and experiences based on what really happens in the field.

We do this by regular meetings, lectures and discussions, site visits, and once a year a conference covering a topic of special interest. Most lectures and meetings are held in London, but local meetings of the Association may be organised by convenors in other parts of the country.

Formed in 1926, the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS) works to protect Scotland’s world renowned landscape and the amenity of the countryside. We are Scotland’s longest established independent environmental organisation.

As an independent charity, we welcome members who share what we care about – Scotland’s varied scenery and rural environment which is a priceless asset for the health, prosperity and well-being of present and future generations. We strive to be an authoritative voice which makes good things happen in rural Scotland and combats threats to damage it.

We are a voluntary organisation which relies heavily upon a part-time Director, a part-time Administrator and volunteers to do its work. With a small office in Edinburgh we have members throughout Scotland and beyond. We are funded by membership subscriptions, donations and grants from charitable foundations.

Why We Exist - Scotland has some of the world’s finest landscapes, a natural and cultural inheritance to be passed on to future generations, but that legacy is severely under threat. Agricultural practice is changing at a pace seldom previously experienced. Housing developments place pressure on green belts. The timber industry verges on crisis, affecting the management of woodlands. National energy policy has resulted in a clamour to build large-scale wind farms that completely change the character of the countryside. Historic villages and communities are the subject of often badly designed and overwhelming expansions. Some of Scotland’s wildest places are easily scarred by the bulldozer hacking out a new track.


Our Objectives are to:

- protect and enhance Scotland’s rural landscapes for future generations
- promote effective planning and landscape protection systems
- encourage genuinely sustainable development
- raise awareness of the importance of Scotland’s landscapes to its people and economy
- promote the activity of land managers who care for Scotland’s landscapes

We do this by:

- working in partnership with individuals, other charities, local authority, government and public bodies
- active involvement in national policy development and advocacy
- advising members of the public on how to respond to proposals which affect their local landscapes
- publicising our work to our members and beyond through our website, our newsletter Rural Scotland and email bulletins

Why You Should Join Us

Scotland’s scenery means so much to so many. People come from all over the world to marvel at its qualities. It is the foundation for Scotland’s largest industry – tourism. Nearer home, the landscapes that surround us have a profound effect on our daily lives. They may be landscapes that have repeatedly inspired poets and novelists or degraded landscapes that have had severe impacts on the health and confidence of communities. APRS presses for the best of Scotland’s scenery to be protected and the worst of it to be enhanced. We have a long history of doing so and welcomes like minded folk to join us.

The Association of English Cathedrals (AEC) was formed in 1990 as an unincorporated association to represent the interests of English Anglican Cathedrals in negotiations with English Heritage about a Cathedrals Grant Scheme. Over the years, its role has expanded and now includes all aspects of better equipping cathedrals, including:

- promoting the role of cathedrals in national and church life;
- liaising with the Church of England central bodies;
- liaising with government departments and agencies;
- liaising with national ecumenical bodies such as the Churches Legislation Advisory Service;
- encouraging sharing of best practice and other information between members;
- issuing guidance on issues affecting cathedrals;
- organising (where appropriate with other organisations) conferences to explore various aspects of cathedral ministry, community engagement, education work and fabric issues;
- providing training to members of cathedral Chapters; and
- conducting research to assist in promoting the national role of cathedrals and to provide information for decision making at a local level so that cathedrals can engage better with their communities.

In response to this increasing role, the AEC was registered as a company limited by guarantee and a charity in 2009. The members of the company are the 42 Anglican cathedrals; St George’s Chapel, Windsor, Westminster Abbey, Cathedral Isle of Man and St Davids Cathedral are associate members.

The AEC’s activities are overseen by a Board of Directors and Trustees (known as the Executive Committee) elected by the members. The Executive meets on six occasions each year. Executive members have responsibility for various areas of activity (education, visitors and volunteers, training, media relations, liturgy and music, adult learning etc.) and undertake work in these areas throughout the year.

The AEC employs a part-time Executive Director who supports the Executive and works with the Executive members in all aspects of their responsibilities, as well as working with member cathedrals by encouraging networking, facilitating exchanges of information and issuing best practice guidance. By doing this work centrally and disseminating the results, cathedrals are better able to use their resources

CAHP is a professional organization that serves qualified heritage professionals in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. CAHP establishes standards of practice, shares knowledge about heritage conservation, and supports the involvement of heritage professionals whenever places of heritage value are being identified, preserved, restored and rehabilitated. As part of its mandate, the organization also fosters and promotes public and legislative support for heritage conservation.

CAHP members are specialists in a wide variety of fields, such as conservation architecture, planning, history, archaeology, landscape architecture and engineering. Please see the Professional Directory for a list of membership specialties.

Our membership and activities are supported by a national office, committees, regional chapters, and a Board of Directors. CAHP is proud of the level of involvement by its members in the organization through work on committees, writing the newsletter, participating in conferences and sponsorships.

CAHP has defined a heritage professional as the following:

" A Heritage Professional is a person who has specialized knowledge in the conservation and stewardship of cultural heritage and is supported by formal training and/or work experience. The Professional conforms to accepted technical and ethical standards and works in accordance with the regulations and guidelines of their specialty heritage fields and jurisdictions of practice. 2

CAHP Objectives:

- Represent members who are professionally and actively engaged in the identification, conservation, preservation, interpretation and sustainable use of cultural and natural heritage
- Establish and maintain principles and standards of practice for heritage consultants
- Enhance the qualifications of Members
- Promote services of Members through various means, including providing a Directory of CAHP Professionals
- Foster sharing and knowledge about the heritage profession and practices within the membership and with the broader public through conferences, meetings, newsletters and other forms of outreach
- Promote the value of heritage preservation and conservation

We're the charity who look after and bring to life 2,000 miles of waterways, because we believe that life is better by water.

Our research shows that spending time by water, whether it be your lunchbreak, daily commute or just a weekend stroll, really can make us feel happier and healthier.

With ever increasing rates of obesity, stress and declining mental health in the UK, we are uniquely placed to make a significant contribution to improving the wellbeing of millions of people. Our canals and rivers run through some of the most heavily populated communities in England and Wales, providing accessible green and blue space where it’s needed the most.

That’s why, here at the Trust, we're working with volunteers and communities across England and Wales to transform canals and rivers into spaces where local people want to spend time and feel better. We know this will bring wellbeing opportunities to millions.

Our work involves not only looking after our waterways, but promoting them widely to the eight million plus people who have waterways on their doorstep so that many more people benefit from our free, accessible and local source of wellbeing.

What we do

- We create new routes to work, places to enjoy and spaces where you want to be
- We build stronger communities by giving people the chance to protect and improve the places that matter to them
- We help thousands of people young and old develop their confidence and learn new skills
- We champion the many benefits that our waterways offer and encourage more people to use and enjoy them
- We care for a 2000-mile long ‘green-blue ribbon’ that connects hundreds of wildlife habitats, helping you to get closer to nature wherever you live
- We protect our precious heritage so your children, and their children too, can connect with our rich history
- We make sure that 2,980 bridges, 1,580 locks and 335 aqueducts are open and ready for use all day, every day

The Cathedral Architects Association exists to promote excellence in the care of cathedral buildings. The collegiate nature of the Association provides a unique knowledge base that is sustained by the free and generous exchange of ideas, expertise, and the experiences of its members both active and retired. Membership is open to those who are appointed under the Care of Cathedrals Measure to look after Anglican cathedrals within England.

Invitations are also extended to the architects of cathedrals of other denominations and jurisdictions such as Roman Catholic cathedrals, cathedrals in Wales and Scotland and also further afield. We benefit from the contributions of our corresponding members who have a close connection with cathedral work, including archaeology, construction, engineering, environmental services and the conservation of fabric and contents.

The Association engages with national and local bodies that have responsibility for cathedral matters, such as Historic England, the Association of English Cathedrals, and the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England. The Association periodically runs events with a specific focus on different aspects of cathedral work, such as masonry conservation, innovations in lighting, and training for future cathedral architects.