History Matters - Pass It On

Following a fantastic response to the History Matters campaign in 2006, the Historic Houses Association has joined with heritage partners to publish the campaign results.

The response to the campaign was astonishing. More than a million people joined our open weekends. 46,000 wrote “One Day in History” diaries (now archived in the British Library). And the clear message emerging from 20,000 declarations of support and 10,000 postcards was: “We need history”.

The overwhelming conclusion from History Matters is that people care. People care because history fuels a passionate fascination with the world around us, it helps us to understand ourselves, it underpins our individual and collective identities and it informs our choices about the future. Securing these benefits for future generations to inherit and pass on is a growing challenge. Working together as a sector, with government and with our supporters we need to:

• invest in our heritage so that it remains in good condition for current and future generations to enjoy and value;
• involve people more in our work, to share the passion of knowledge and to help us make decisions about what matters and why; and
• inspire everyone to feel history is something which adds to our quality of life, now and for the future.

The Campaign

During 2006, the Historic Houses Association joined the National Trust, English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Civic Trust and many other heritage organisations to form History Matters - pass it on, to give everyone the opportunity to show how important we think heritage is to our understanding of where we live and our own history, and to our quality of life, health and happiness in modern Britain.

The campaign was a positive celebration of history and coincided with the current debate about nationality and identity, as well as important decisions about future levels of Government investment in heritage.

By the end of 2006:

• More than 1.1 million people had shown their support by taking a badge or making an on-line declaration;
• Over one million people took part in the Heritage Open Days weekend when hundreds of heritage sites opened for free as part of the campaign in September;
• Forty six thousand people helped to make history by contributing an on-line diary of what they did on one single day - 17 October 2006 - which will be recorded for posterity at the British Library;
• Nearly ten thousand people had completed a postcard telling us why history matters to them; and
• Over 800 local groups and organisations had taken part in the campaign.

  Download Stephen Fry's speech at the launch of History Matters