About
What we do
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Exhibition Design and Development
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Volunteer Development
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Community Engagement
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Strategic Planning
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Mentorships
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Grassroots Heritage Support
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Help growing your network
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Talks, conferences and workshops
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Interpretation
Nicola McHendry
Heritage Consultant
Born and raised in the south side of Glasgow, Nicola's enthusiasm for Scottish history was apparent from a young age, writing a number of short stories based on her adventures across historic sites in the UK. Her early career was spent as a wine advisor and part time tour guide in Edinburgh. Realising that getting people engaged in history was just as exciting as a fine Bordeaux, she pursued an MSc in Museum Studies, graduating from the University of Glasgow in 2017. Since then, she has worked across Scotland in the heritage sector. Her passion lies in working with communities to break down barriers and collaborate across disciplinary boundaries. This allows us to provide better opportunities where they are most needed, in marginalised communities who have historically been underrepresented and underfunded for arts and cultural activities.
By working with communities in this way she aims to foster not only a sense of community ownership but a cultural shift. One in which heritage is an instrument for social innovation, where we can redistribute authority, expertise, agency and representation. One where communities hold the power.
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What is Community Heritage?
There is an impulse within the heritage sector to categorise and define; a sort of silo thinking where the strands of heritage exist independently of one another. The strands of archaeology, history, archives, built heritage and art are so often regarded as being specialist and independent of each other and in turn, this informs how we promote, interpret, and interact with them.
Community Heritage, on the other hand, often spans these strands, and others. No one list could ever definitively cover everything that it is. It escapes a concise definition because it is so particular to individual communities.
The most valuable information about local heritage is held by communities themselves. Community heritage represents and protects what these groups identify for themselves as being part of their shared past. Community Heritage reflects different viewpoints across cultures and generations. It is the key to local distinctiveness. and identity.