P roviding

O pportunities for

R egeneration

T hrough

H eritage

The first stage of this project has been completed - reports from consultants and the project officer will appear here when finalised-The Board of C.T.N.W. is deciding on its next course of action.

PORTH will:

• Encourage parishes and communities of every religious background to increase physical and intellectual access to the heritage assets of their places of worship

• Support faith communities in identifying development opportunities for their places of worship that are sustainable, socially inclusive and culturally relevant

• Help communities to develop the skills to manage and market the activities related to their place of worship to their local community and visitors and to sustain activity post project completion

• Develop a network for those involved to share and disseminate information, gain access to support  mechanisms and create national awareness of local initiatives

• The PPG would allow C.T.N.W. to identify the audiences and to develop an access plan by using consultants under the direction of a project officer.

It is necessary to identify partners with whom CTNW can work.  The aim of the planning will be to ensure that all relevant information is available to develop the PORTH project in full and perhaps across a wider geographical area.

Partners

The key partners in the delivery of the project will be Trinity College, Carmarthen and Capital Region Tourism, the Regional Tourism Partnership for South Wales, both of whom have already committed resources in support of the pilot project and PORTH's development. Involvement from these organisations will provide access to expertise in the fields of Welsh culture, theology, and history, and tourism marketing. University College of Wales Lampeter, and the University of Newport may also be involved as associate organisations in providing specialist research and/or training.

PORTH will focus on working with all faith communities to increase physical and intellectual access to the heritage assets - social, cultural, and built - of their places of worship, helping them to develop the skills to manage and market these assets to the benefit of the wider community and visitors alike.

Feedback from the project "Opening Doors" showed clearly the positive response from the faith groups involved, as well as indicating the need for better co-ordination of activities, and has been instrumental in the shaping of the PORTH project.

CTNW has also received many other comments, requests and suggestions from faith communities which have supported and informed the development of the project.

The Church in Wales audit in 2000 involved a questionnaire to 1,647 church properties, with a 48% response rate, showing a very high degree of interest in improving and developing the range of services/facilities offered.

In addition, CTNW has been heavily involved in the development of the Wales Tourist Board's Cultural Tourism Strategy, the research for which demonstrated the need for better access and interpretation of the heritage assets represented by places of worship for the growth in cultural tourism identified

During the development of PORTH, CTNW has consulted as broad a range of bodies as possible to get advice and support, and to ensure the relevance of PORTH to their initiatives and strategies.. These have included CADW, ELWa, WDA, Welsh Assembly Government, tourism associations and regional tourism partnerships, and Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

PORTH Management

The project will be managed by John Winton National Director C.T.N.W.  the Director will have direct line management responsibility for the Project officer and operational control of resources.  Meetings between the project officer and John Winton will be regularly with monthly written assessment of progress against targets/budgets.

Sustainability

The sustainability of all CTNW's work demands that local communities decide what they want to do in terms of interpretation and presentation and what skills they can bring to this process -CTNW will offer advice and help especially with the strategic planning -advice will also be given on the development of partnerships and the use of experts in particular fields.  CTNW also sees itself as having a responsibility for raising expectations in the communities.  Regular and ongoing consultation will take place with the local communities.

After a successful PPG in which the audience development is identified, the access plan settled and the communities "signed up", the aim is to develop the sustainability of the work by providing the necessary training and support to enable and empower the people in the communities to preserve and conserve the heritage associated with the place of worship.  There will be support materials, a tool kit and a database of professionals thereby ensuring that the heritage of Wales bound up in these chosen places of ecclesiastical built heritage will be better maintained, interpreted and presented for future generations.

This work will also inform the future work of Churches Tourism Network Wales.

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