24 Y E A R B O O K 2 0 2 0 THE CULTURAL PROGRAMME Each HSHAZ will bring together partners to develop a programme of cultural activities inextricably linked to the regeneration of the high street. These partners include local cultural organisations and community charities and groups. Each consortium will apply for a grant to fund its own defined cultural programme with help and guidance from Historic England, Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage Fund. Running parallel with this, Historic England will also commission artists and creatives to produce pieces that respond to a set of national themes that celebrate the high street and the identities of places involved in the scheme. Why is this type of work important? Compelling evidence from places such as Hull and Liverpool shows that cultural programming encourages people to see these challenged areas in a new light. The cultural programme will challenge the perception that the high street is dying or neglected, and alongside the capital works, will help people see them as places where communities come together. HSHAZ represents one plank of a wider initiative designed to stimulate high street regeneration. It sits alongside the wider Future High Streets Fund, a £1bn package of investment that will target around 100 high streets in England; offering grants of up to £25m for projects that focus on proposals around transport, housing delivery and public services. Completing the suite of high streets funds is the Architectural Heritage Fund’s Transforming Places Through Heritage, which is an asset based scheme providing support for charities and social enterprises to develop projects with the potential to bring new life to high streets by creating alternative uses for redundant or underused historic buildings in town centres. Owain Lloyd-James MCIfA is the Head of Places Strategy at Historic England, where he has worked since 2007. He originally trained as an archaeologist and has contributed to The Archaeologist magazine, also co-authoring Pillars of the Community: the Transfer of Local Authority Heritage Assets. Shopfronts in Sadler Gate, Derby, before and after restoration of typical traditional features, which are essential to the character of Victorian and Edwardian high streets everywhere in Britain
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