Nature And Landscape

Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre - Building in Resilience & Sustainability - A 10 year Celebration

A decade on from the opening (April 2014) of the HLF funded Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre we wish to celebrate 10 years of public engagement (c1.25M visitors) to our internationally important archaeology, ecology and geology exhibitions. Despite this success a step-change in the model is profoundly needed. Covid and 60% cuts in public funding created the ‘perfect storm’ with the Centre operating an annual deficit - ultimately threatening our internationally important heritage and public engagement offer. Positively, since 2014, BCP Council (and The Parks Foundation) were a successful cohort in Rethinking Parks 1 and 2, followed by pioneering work (2019-2022) with the Future Parks Accelerator and National Trust in creating sustainable parks fit for the 21st century. We wish to use this learning to build resilience into the Visitor Centre business, deliver ‘organisational sustainability’ through improved commercial capabilities, invest in new skills and increased capacity to drive new revenue opportunities.