HLF Landscape Partnership Scheme – Submitted!
This month, SBSA submitted an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund worth just over £2.4million! A Stage 2 bid to HLF’s Landscape Partnership programme, the ‘Land of the Fanns’ sets out an ambitious 5 year plan to positively manage and understand one of the last remaining landscapes of London as it once was. With SBSA supporting a partnership comprising of four local authorities, the Thames Chase Trust, the Forestry Commission, Thames21 and the Thames Estuary Partnership, these efforts have the potential to transform almost 70 square miles of East London and South West Essex. The decision on this funding will be made in November 2016 so watch this space!
Representing perhaps the largest and most complex funding programme for landscape in the UK, successful Landscape Partnerships require the development of a clear vision for an area which is collectively owned by many partners and stakeholders. That vision then needs to be translated into a coherent and structured programme of work, manifested in a Landscape Conservation Action Plan that guides delivery whilst laying the foundations for a lasting legacy.
For ‘Land of the Fanns’, the title and vision drew inspiration from local 19th century parish records of a more unified historic landscape celebrated in Leslie Thompson’s book ‘The Land That Fanns’ (1957). Derived from the Saxon word for fen, the ‘Fanns’ evoked memories of a lost watery landscape alluded to through local place names such as Bulphan (or Bulfann), Fanns Farm and Dry Street. Whilst the vision took this phrase and used it to cover an area encompassing more than just historic fenland, the title still retained a ring of truth about it given how so much of the unique landscape character was owed to its marshy origins. From this foundation, the ‘Land of the Fanns’ was developed into a coherent programme comprising of 26 interconnected projects that will reunify the landscape and spark renewed attachment to it.
SBSA has supported the development of ‘Land of the Fanns’ since the very beginning, applying a broad range of expertise in fundraising, partnership development and stakeholder engagement to ensure a submission to HLF of the utmost quality. This has been delivered with clarity and a smile, something that partners find essential given the complexity of the task! If you are looking for support developing Landscape Partnership proposals and feel daunted by the process, do get in touch for a no obligation chat. With direct experience of the entire development process, we can help with your landscape too!
