AHI is Fabulous at Fifty!
The brilliant Association for Heritage Interpretation turns fifty this year. It has provided five decades of support, insight and inspiration for heritage interpreters and all those associated with our sector. It’s an honour to have co-written a piece for the decade-by-decade review of the Association’s history and impact in the anniversary issue of the AHI Journal, with friend and mentor (and former AHI chair) Carolyn Lloyd Brown.
Our piece marks the pivotal years between 1995 and 2004, when interpretation was first formally recognised internationally and intangible cultural heritage was starting to take its rightful place alongside the tangible and physical resources being saved, shared and celebrated around the world. In the UK, the new National Lottery Heritage Fund was finding its feet, making a huge impact on the heritage sector with large grants and a big vision for engaging new and different people with our natural and cultural heritage. It was a very exciting time.
It was a pivotal period for me too – I joined the profession in 1996 under Carolyn’s brilliant tutelage, and became an AHI member soon after. I have benefited throughout my career from the hugely generous and supportive folk in the AHI network and the resources and training the Association provides. I have also made my own contribution to AHI, joining the committee as a trustee in the noughties, running three conferences in Northumberland, South Wales and on the south coast, and speaking on behalf of AHI at e.g. the Museums & Heritage Show. I have also been involved in the brilliant AHI Engaging People Awards for many years – this year will be my tenth as organiser and trainer of our fantastic changing cohort of expert volunteer site judges.
The shortlist of exemplar heritage engagement projects is just about to be announced for the Engaging People Awards 2025. I am bracing myself for the frantic joy of getting our pairs of site judges out to visit and assess the shortlisted experiences around the UK and coordinating their feedback reports. And I will feel the usual vicarious pride in helping celebrate the very best of best practice in our sector by the time we reach the Awards Ceremony at this year’s annual conference in Cardiff in October. Bring on the brilliance!
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