Winchester Heritage Open Days now under the responsibility of new charity

The organisers of Winchester’s successful Heritage Open Days programme have announced the formation of a new charity, Hampshire History Trust.

The primary role of the new Trust will be to run Winchester Heritage Open Days, a free ten-day festival that provides a diverse and local programme of events that celebrate history, cultural heritage and architecture.

As well as the festival, Hampshire History Trust will also run other community projects such as the Blue Plaque Scheme and Hampshire HistBites, Hampshire’s history podcast channel.

Nicky Gottlieb and Becky Brown, two of the three founding trustees, said they were delighted that the new charity had been approved by the Charity Commission.

Nicky Gottlieb told Winol: “This is the start of an exciting journey for us. Five years ago when I first re-launched Heritage Open Days here in Winchester I always dreamed that it would develop onto a wider history festival to celebrate Winchester’s incredibly rich history and heritage.”

“Becoming a CIO in our own right is a crucial and exciting first step in realising our ambitions to bring Hampshire’s rich history and heritage to a wider audience.”

Becky Brown, paying tribute to all the organisations, sponsors and volunteers involved in Winchester Heritage Open Days told Winol: “We wouldn’t be here without their support and encouragement”,

“And we hope our partnerships with the City of Winchester Trust, Hampshire Cultural Trust, Winchester College, Hampshire County Council, Winchester BID, and the University of Winchester will continue to grow as we build on the success of Winchester Heritage Open Days to develop a Winchester History Festival and hold more outreach activities and events for schools.”

Hampshire History Trust have proposed for the festival to take place in late September, immediately following on from Heritage Open Days to ensure that the Trust continues to offer a diverse range of events that are accessible to the whole community.