Historic Buildings & Places (HB&P) is pleased to welcome five students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in Worcester, Massachusetts, who have begun work on a new research project exploring the financial and operational sustainability of heritage charities across England and Wales. The students are currently in London, where they will be working with HB&P over the next seven weeks.
The students – Chaz Aguiar, Daniel Freedman, Henry Seeger, Nina Van Ekelenburg and Yara Nabih – are the third group from WPI to work with HB&P, continuing a valued partnership built around collaboration, shared learning and knowledge exchange.
The project will focus on how heritage charities, including HB&P, operate, with particular attention to financial sustainability alongside wider organisational structures. Using publicly available financial data from the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the students will analyse trends across the sector and consider how financial realities shape an organisation’s ability to deliver its mission.
They will be supported by Christina Avramakis from the HB&P team and Jess Stitt from the Heritage Innovation Laboratory Oxford (HILO), who are leading Future Lab – a joint initiative by HB&P and HILO. The research will contribute to Future Lab by helping build an evidence base that supports practical thinking about long-term sustainability in the heritage sector.
Reflecting on their involvement, the students said:
“We are excited to be working with HB&P because of their impressive casework and their continued mission of promoting everyday heritage. The group is very grateful to be given this opportunity to learn more about HB&P’s practices along with the inner workings of the heritage charity sector.”
Liz Power, Director of Historic Buildings & Places, said:
“It’s a pleasure to welcome our third group of WPI students. These projects bring fresh perspectives and valuable research capacity, and they reflect our continued commitment to building partnerships that support shared learning and strengthen the heritage sector.”
HB&P looks forward to updating supporters as the students progress with their project and to sharing insights from their research in due course.
