Hello!
Great to be in post as World Heritage UK’s new Development Director! My name is Chris Mahon and I started work last week. My interview for this contract was in Lyme Regis, in the beautiful Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site. Though I had been there before in my youth, it was good to see the Jurassic Coast again professionally and meet some of the people involved in its management. I’m really looking forward to working with members of the World Heritage community and visiting some of the other World Heritage Sites on the UK list – I think I have been to half of them over the years.
By way of a background introduction, I’ve been around the conservation sector since 1990 when I graduated in Environmental Science. I’ve worked in a local authority, managed a wildlife trust and now lead the UK Committee of an international environmental network and coordinate a small charity. Developing World Heritage UK fits snugly into this portfolio and I aim to demonstrate some positive results helped by my previous experience.
I will be working three days a week initially, assisting the Board in developing the organisation, primarily by growing its membership, improving communications, networking and advocacy, securing a financial future, supporting event management and other promotional activity. I have already advanced the contacts database – if you want to be on it, let me have your details!
The next task is to promote the World Heritage UK inaugural conference, which, if you don’t know, Is on the 14th and 15th of October 2015 at the Saltaire World Heritage Site near Bradford in Yorkshire. The theme is ‘World Heritage Tourism – unlocking the potential’ and should be a great event with speakers such as the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage, Tracey Crouch, the Peter DeBrine from UNESCO in Paris, and Director of Visit England, James Beresford.
Tickets will be on sale this week, so watch this space and I look forward to meeting you there.
Chris Mahon chris.mahon@worldheritageuk.org