Presentation by the chairman of The Friends of Kinneil to the 2009 AGM, held at St. Mary's Church Hall, Bo'ness, on June 2.

1. The Friends of Kinneil AGM
Registered Charity
Charity Registration Number
SC038368
Annual report for 2008-09

2. Welcome to the AGM
Bruce Henderson, Chairman
The Friends of Kinneil

3. Key activities for The Friends
• Raising the profile of the Park
• Increasing awareness of Kinneil House and Museum
• Forming partnerships to promote/improve Kinneil
• Delivering member events
• Developing a strategy for the estate

4. Raising the profile of Kinneil
In 2008/09,we:
• Actively promoted Kinneil Estate through the media,
linking into key events – such as the announcement of
World Heritage Status for the Antonine Wall, which runs
through the estate

5. Raising the profile of Kinneil
• We also built up strong relationships with new media
outlets – such as s1boness.com. We also featured on
BBC and independent radio.
• We used print publicity to promote key activities – using
posters, for example, to publicise our events at
neighbouring tourist attractions.

7. Raising the profile of Kinneil
• We have continued to develop our website –
www.kinneil.org.uk
• The website now includes video, audio clips and even
downloadable instructions for Satellite Navigation
devices.
• We have also started the development of online videos
to promote the estate, via our own website and through
channels such as YouTube and Vimeo.

9. Raising the profile of Kinneil
• We worked with Historic Scotland to produce a new
guide for Kinneil House.
• This is now on sale at Blackness Castle and at future
House open days.
• The guide was launched in April 2009.

11. Increasing awareness
• We ran five open days at Kinneil House – attracting
around 1400 people for the year ending April 2009
• This was down slightly on last year.
• We worked with Historic Scotland to offer free entry and
guided tours of the House.
• This, in turn, boosted visitor numbers at Kinneil
Museum.

12. Increasing awareness
Open days are themed:
• One at the end of June – to tie in with the Bo’ness Fair
• An opening as part of the Kinneil Heritage Day in
September

13. Increasing awareness
Open days were themed:
• A Hallowe’en event – complete with fancy dress
competition. This proved popular in 2008.
• And a Homecoming event in April this year – complete
with a visit from “Duchess Anne” herself. This was
organised in conjunction with Historic Scotland.

15. Forming partnerships

16. Forming partnerships
• We continued our successful partnership with Step
Forth to encourage them to run three-times-a-week free
health walks around Kinneil Estate.
•The walks now run every Monday, Tuesday and
Thursday, leaving outside Kinneil Museum
•Details available from the Museum or from our website

17. Forming partnerships
• We also worked in partnership with
Bo’ness Community Council, Deanburn
Primary School and Bonnie Bo’ness to
run litter picks in Kinneil Estate.
• Nearly 100 bags were collected over
the two events, run as part of a national
clean-up campaign in April 2009.

18. Forming partnerships
• We built up better links with other groups such as
Central Scotland Forest Trust – bidding to win new cash
to revamp the woodland at Kinneil – and Falkirk Council’s
Ranger Service.
• Our open days now feature in the Rangers’ outdoor
events diary.

19. Delivering member events
• We ran a trip to Lennoxlove in November. The Duke of
Hamilton’s estate opened up out of season to give The
Friends a special look around their amazing art
collection.

21. Delivering member events
• We ran a Christmas party for all members – and also
invited guests who had helped the Friends.
• We also ran an internet evening in March this year to
show off improvements to our website – and the work of
one of our members to create a virtual tour around
Kinneil Estate.

22. Delivering member events
• We also ran a special member event in September
2008 – asking archaeologist Geoff Bailey to talk about
his work along the Antonine Wall.
• Plans are now in hand to create a “Big Roman Week” to
further publicise the Wall.

23. Delivering member events
• We have communicated with members by email, letters
and through our website.
• We also continued to develop a non-member email list
to reach other supporters.
• As of May 2009, there were 67 individual members and
1 corporate member.

24. Developing a strategy
• The Management Committee built on our 2006
park/museum survey to brainstorm ideas for the future
development of Kinneil.
• We have now set short, medium and long-term
objectives.

25. Developing a strategy
• We welcome ideas from members.
• Email us at: info@kinneil.org.uk

26. Other highlights
• UNESCO announced World Heritage Site status for the
Antonine Wall – which runs through Kinneil in July 2008.
• The UK and Scottish Culture Ministers visited the
Estate in March 2009 to visit the Roman Fortlet.

27. Other highlights
The UK and
Scottish Culture
Ministers visited
the Estate in
March 2009 to
visit the Roman
Fortlet.

28. Other highlights
• The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway featured in the big
BBC Christmas drama, The 39 Steps
• Falkirk Council named Kinneil as one of 3 strategic
parks, alongside Callendar Park and the Helix in Falkirk.
Consultation on its new parks strategy is getting
underway.

29. Other highlights
• In January 2009, Clydesdale Bank unveiled the design
of its new £50 note – featuring Kinneil’s Roman Fortlet.
• The Bank of England is to issue its own new note,
promoting James Watt – a character linked with Kinneil.
• The history of the estate is also featured in new videos
made by the Forth’s Timeline project.
• See these online at www.kinneil.org.uk/videogallery

30. The future
Our future plans include:
• training for Kinneil House guides
• a fundraising dinner in October 2009
• a Duchess Anne event in January
• a Roman Week – possibly linked into the
Kinneil Heritage Day

31. Thank you

32. The Friends of Kinneil AGM
Registered Charity
Charity Registration Number
SC038368