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DREAMLAND HERITAGE TRUST

BUSINESS PLAN

Dreamland Trust Business Plan 2019 - 2023
January 28 2020
Executive Summary


This document details the work of the Dreamland Trust for the period 2019 – 2023. It was developed, with Heritage Lottery Fund support, during 2018 through a process of stakeholder consultation interviews and workshops, which considered the key challenges and opportunities that the organisation faces.
The Dreamland Trust grew out of the Save Dreamland campaign and now acts as a community champion of Dreamland and British seaside heritage, bringing the history and cultural significance of Dreamland to life, tapping into people’s stories and memories of the Park from its start 100 years ago right up to the present day.
This Business Plan identifies four Strategic Priorities to 2023. These are to ensure that the Trust delivers on its stated Vision and Mission; to make clear the Trust’s role and raise its profile; to build capacity, partnerships and volunteering; and to develop community engagement, the archive and education.


Building on the Trust’s key heritage asset, its archive, the Trust has prioritised four key activities for 2019-2023:


1.    Archive Development: ensuring that memorabilia, photographs, film and historical documents are professionally stored, catalogued, managed and developed, so that they can be fully used in activities such as media work, outreach activities and events.


2.    Community Engagement: delivering talks, exhibitions, events and other activities in the community to tell the story of Dreamland and increase awareness and understanding of its historical and cultural significance. This will build an appreciation among local residents and visitors of the special place that Margate occupies in British seaside heritage, in the process supporting the regeneration of the town and social cohesion.


3.    Immersive Dreamland Heritage Experience: researching, scoping and developing an experience for residents and visitors that brings the Dreamland story to life, using the latest interactive and immersive methods of interpretation.


4.    Potential National Seaside Heritage Centre: work with partners to explore the scope to establish a major new national centre of excellence for British Seaside Heritage in Margate, serving the community and subject specialists through a permanent museum space, talks, events and archive. Such a Centre could become a new visitor attraction for Margate and make a significant contribution to the town’s regeneration.


Partnerships will play a key role in achieving these ambitious aims, so the Trust will seek to work closely with a wide range of organisations in Thanet and beyond, including Sands Heritage Ltd (the operator of Dreamland) and Thanet District Council.
An ambitious fundraising effort will aim to secure over £380,000 in cash and in kind to ensure that the Trust has the people, premises and resources required to deliver the Business Plan over the five-year period. Volunteers will also play a key role in the success of the Trust and the Business Plan aims to ensure that the Trust’s processes for recruiting, developing, retaining and supporting volunteers are fully fit for purpose.


The Trust will take a robust approach to risk management and monitoring and evaluation so as to ensure that activities are delivered successfully, and key learning is captured in the process, for use within the Trust itself and to be disseminated more widely.


Successful delivery of the Business Plan is also underpinned by three accompanying documents: a Marketing and Communications Strategy, a Governance Review and a Funding Strategy.
 

DREAMLAND STORY

From the 1920s until today, discover the story behind Kent’s most iconic theme park at the heart of Margate

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