Received from Bill Kelly:

I am grateful for a very welcome paper portraying great appreciation of SANHS’ current situation.

My understanding of Mick's comments is drawn from an engineer's approach to problem solving, and my subsequent comments are based on a systemic view of SANHS' strategic approach to the future.

My perceived purpose of Mick's paper is to address the issue of ‘a lack of public interest in joining, staying in and participating in SANHS'.  Mick's evidence is that many of the 'aspects of archaeology that would interest them [15 project people in Winscombe] and indeed activities that would help them with their interests are not at present provided by SANHS'.  SANHS has sought evidence from members of what would help retain their interest but not evidence from the public of what would interest them in the services that SANHS is remitted to provide through its charitable purpose. SANHS charitable purpose is service to the public yet it has little visibility in the public eye.  We have difficulty in gauging the public need which is why, in the 2011 Annual Report, we set ourselves the challenge to ‘improve public awareness and engagement in the activities of the Society by attending 10 prestige events throughout the County and beyond’.  My eyewitness evidence from Society events that I have attended is that there is a small core of members who actively engage in activities, and Marilyn’s evidence from the questionnaire suggests that members want more education and training for field work.  It would seem to me that we need to encourage more members who are willing to work towards the Society’s charitable purpose of providing a service to the public and that might mean being an umbrella organization for those smaller, local societies that really get involved in field activities.  Some of those umbrella activities might include education and training programmes run by our expert members.  I am not one of those experts, but when I offered education and training in using the interactive facilities on the website, I had no takers.  We would have to work hard to encourage member participation in such programmes. 

SANHS will need to evaluate how it can operate in partnership with Associated Societies so that it can strategically deliver part of its charitable purpose through them.  People interested in heritage in the historic County appear to prefer to join with their local colleagues in field activities, and we can strategically assist them with mentoring and training.  We need to work together and build on our respective strengths of expert knowledge and willing investigators.  I note with regret that we did not include in the 2011 Annual Report the challenge of providing education and training though the illustrative strategic plan, through which I developed the risk register, specifically identified ‘to contribute to enhancing teaching and learning across all ages and interests in Somerset’s heritage’ as a strategic activity.  If there is a proven need for such programmes then the idea of a class of membership that involves an Associated Society fee from each member giving them access to these programmes but not Proceedings and Newsletters might be viable.  We should not be blinkered to heritage programmes in universities but also look at those establishments of secondary education such as Bridgwater College, Strode College, Richard Huish College and further afield in Somerset.

Our other partnerships with Somerset Heritage Service, Somerset Wildlife Trust and the historic buildings preservation trusts are vital to our future as an umbrella organization in delivering our charitable service.  We have seen the successes of joint conferences and symposia in strategic venues such as Strode Theatre, Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institute, and Wells and Mendip Museum.  These should be expanded both as specialist group activities and as combined archaeology, historic buildings, natural history and local history meetings.  Treating historic Somerset as an ecosystem seems to me to break down the silo activities of our specialist groups and is more likely to support strategically our work with associated societies and partners. We should also investigate the benefits of strategic alliances with neighbouring County societies so that we can share our strengths and work more cooperatively.

Wyndham hall is an important asset that offers the opportunity to deliver public benefit.  Whilst not as historically important or substantial as Castle House, it could offer SANHS more important investment benefits when refurbished in a joint venture with partners.  The Castle House refurbishment is a hugely valuable and important project that the Castle House Trust is managing.  We might need to look at a different project structure to provide SANHS with best strategic benefit from Wyndham Hall.  The 2011 Annual Report recognized this in the challenge to ‘develop Wyndham Hall as a cornerstone of the Society’s resources available to deliver its charitable purposes’.

The Young Archaeologist Club idea, using the existing structure of the National YAC and the branch in Bristol and Bath, is a really good approach to SANHS engagement with young people.  We have been looking at ways in which we can engage with establishments such as Richard Huish College and the other secondary providers of learning in ecology.  As an engineer, I have been involved in a ‘Neighbourhood Engineers’ scheme to encourage young people to take an interest in engineering and design and have witnessed successes of this form of mentoring.  A ‘Neighbourhood [Archaeology and Natural History] Ecologists’ scheme sponsored by SANHS employing the principles of the National YAC network might work.

The review of SANHS publications, annual, biannual and occasional, is an ongoing project that Publications Committee is committed to undertake.  In the operational short term, electronic and web publishing are being investigated with attendance at the County Society’s Conference in September.  The range of publications and balance of their content are important facets of that review that might include an annual account of the progress of projects supported by SANHS throughout the Associated Societies.  This might be a more practical and less academic approach to the combined areas of archaeology/natural history/historic buildings/local history or what I like to think of as ecology.  This work within Publications Committee has now been formally endorsed by the Board and might be given a higher priority in the future.  It was implicit within the 2011 Annual Report and the illustrative strategic plan.

I can understand Mick’s notion of a CEO though I think that it is the skills and attributes, or set of competences, that are required in the elected Board.  We need an executive that together can deliver business outcomes and a succession plan to ensure that the future remains viable and sustainable.  First and foremost, whilst we are searching for electable candidates to fulfil these executive roles at the next AGM, we must renew our efforts to produce a simple strategic plan.  It does not have to be the perfect finished product, a prototype that kicks our culture and huge momentum into motion and change. 

I believe that we can and should be putting SANHS in the public eye at events such as the Bath and West Show, the Dunster Fair and Taunton Flower Show even before we have a number of Mick’s projects underway.  Our journey is a continuous one that should be dynamic and agile.  We have to be in the public eye to find out what our public service should be and what might encourage the public to participate in delivering it as members.  Hence my enthusiasm for ‘attending 10 prestige events throughout the County and beyond’ in the 2011 Annual Report.

Mick’s endorsement of our existing and maturing approach is encouraging.  I particularly like the ‘Neighbourhood Ecologists’ and Young (Archaeologists) Ecologists Club as means of engaging with younger, prospective members of SANHS.

Bill Kelly