C O N T E X T 1 3 3 : M A R C H 2 0 1 4 51 Notes from the chair Our teenage bantam years are behind us Much has happened since my last column in Context 132 (November 2013). I am pleased to report that good progress has been made across the four key areas I mapped out at the time: increasing national office capacity; better use of our body of stats and data; assisting affiliates to become full members; and forging partnerships to develop our campaigning efforts. On top of that we have been looking at modernising our governance arrangements. We are all indebted to the national office staff for their tireless efforts on our behalf in fleshing out the strategies and initiatives generated by IHBC council, officers and the committees. And I must thank the many volunteers at national and local level who make things happen. I hesitate to single out individuals when this is clearly a massive team effort across a whole range of activities.You know who you are. The amazing thing about the IHBC is how much gets done when it is, to a significant degree, down to you, the ordinary volunteer members getting things done in your spare time. An oft-repeated cliché of the IHBC is that we punch above our weight. For a number of years that was true. But I feel that we are grown up now, our teenage bantam years are behind us and we need to move up a division or two, and start punching at that level. There is certainly no lack of ambition or energy for the task. Capacity, though, is an issue. How much more can we squeeze out of the existing body of volunteers? Not a lot. So we need fresh blood and new imaginative ways to utilise the skills and capacity we have. We have begun to increase capacity within the national office with a new research officer post, recently filled, and other support drafted in to deliver specific tasks like the weekly Newsblog. This releases other staff and Seán O’Reilly, our director, to take on more strategic work. But paid staff are at a premium, and will be for the foreseeable future unless and until we can increase our income. This is an area for our commercial arm, IHBC Enterprises to consider. We should look to see how we can form new partnerships and sell our skills and expertise across the sector. In the meantime (and I know you have been expecting this), if you are not already doing so, do, please, consider volunteering to help the institute, in whatever capacity you can manage. It is very rewarding and often good fun, and it is good to be part of a winning team. The other area which I want to encourage is in growing our membership.You may have heard about the Stepping Stones initiative. This is a response to comments that the leap from affiliate to full membership can be a big one, especially in the current pressurised work climate. Stepping Stones will allow affiliates to tackle the jump in stages, banking achievements along the way so that full IHBC membership can be attained in bite-sized chunks. Developed by our national office with Paul Butler (membership and ethics secretary) and Emilia Hands (vice chair), we hope this will be the incentive many of you have been waiting for. Emilia will be taking a Roadshow around the branches and answering your questions. If you have been mulling over how to upgrade to full membership, get in touch. It will be good for you and good for the IHBC. The IHBC continues to grow as an influence within the sector. As well as our representation on the Historic Environment Forum I, as IHBC chair, have been elected as vice chairman of
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