How you get local partners to visit more often?
Kensington Palace and the Tower, the two Historic Royal Palaces sites in London, have established a long-term Community Access Scheme for local communities and educational institutions (partners) in the three surrounding urban districts.
Although at first I didn’t know what to expect, the course was rewarding. I got all kinds of ideas about how my students would benefit from a visit to a palace.
Group Leader, Community Access Scheme
The Historic Royal Palaces want local communities to discover for themselves what Kensington Palace and the Tower of London can offer them. They therefore coach and escort local teachers and group leaders in giving guided tours, and invite them to make regular visits to the Tower with people from their communities.
Jatinder Kailey, Community Assistant Producer, says: ‘We want people from the local area to feel at home here and feel that the Tower belongs to them, especially the ones who wouldn’t otherwise come here.’ With this in mind, Historic Royal Palaces is providing free admission and repeat visit discount tickets for each group visit by a partner organisation. This lets local people bring friends and family along with them on their next visit and share their experiences with loved ones.
The Community Access Scheme entails the following:
- Training: A Training Day aimed at guides working for local partners, during which they are told the history of Kensington Palace and given practical tips for independent group visits
- Literature on how to prepare a group visit, with suggestions for activities, routes and themes for guided tours, floor plans and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs)
- Free admission: Group Leaders sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA) which sets out expectations and conditions for unlimited visits. They receive a ‘membership card’, allowing them to schedule unlimited independent group visits for a period of one year, and offering an option to extend
- Repeat visit tickets: each participant in an independent group visit with a Group Leader from a partner organisation receives discount tickets (which get them in for just £1)
- A local network of Historic Royal Palaces partners: networking events and an online newsletter, so that the relations with local partners are strengthened and so the organisation and the partners can learn from each other and from each other’s experiences
You can find more information on the Historic Royal Palaces website.
Please email any questions you may have to Jatinder Kailey at the Tower of London: learning.info@hrp.org.uk