2011-12 was a year of exciting new initiatives, consolidating established activities, playing our part in big projects and working with more people than ever before.

We aim to work with people who face real or perceived barriers to engagement with our sites, because of social, cultural, physical or financial reasons; we focus on the local communities nearest to our palaces, and seek to balance depth of engagement with breadth of reach.

Our team works across all of our sites, with each team member focussing on a different audience group - children and families, young people, adults, intergenerational and access. Here's a taste of some of the many activities which took place over the course of the year, which culminated in Her Majesty The Queen meeting representatives from one of our Community Partners at the opening of the new Clore Learning Centre at Kensington Palace in March 2012...

Children and families

For the first time since World War Two, an allotment was created at the Tower of London by local grandparents, parents and children; this special project helped families learn to work together, discover some lesser known stories of the Tower during the 1940s and be ecouraged to eat healthily. Other families enjoyed using the new tactile storybook at Kensington Palace, all about the rat-catcher who once worked at the palace. Local children helped plant the seeds for the new wildflower meadow in the re-landscaped gardens of Kensington, whilst others took part in workshops to create unique decorations for the palace's quirky Christmas tree. At Kew Palace children enjoyed discovering stories of the past in the Temple of the Imagination and doing screen printing inspired by the palace. To mark the opening of the 'Royal Beasts' exhibition at the Tower, local children worked with artist Kendra Haste to create their own model 'beasts'. Once again, many children took part in the drawing club run by the Prince's Drawing School and housed at Kensington Palace.

...and much, much more!

Young people

In 2011 young people took part in many inspiring activities, including careers days run at the Tower with our Community Partner IntoUniversity and youth 'graduation' ceremonies in the palaces. At Kew Palace teenagers took part in a project where they 'planted words' around the Temple of the Imagination, learning about buildings, people, plants and themselves in the process. A fashion project inspired by historic royal dress engaged young people, as did a beautiful book making project where participants could share their own life stories as they discovered those of past residents of Kensington Palace. The Youth Panel continued to advise on how to make Kensington as engaging as possible. Pupils at the Tower Hamlets Pupil Referral Unit took part in a project about the Peasants' Revolt, where they looked at rebellion past and present, whilst their teachers attended their own INSET day at the Tower, helping to inspire them.

...and much, much more!

Adults

For the first time all five of our palaces hosted citizenship ceremonies, during what we called our 'Citizenship Month' in October 2011, with about 100 people becoming British citizens, watched by friends and family. Hospitals and nursing homes took part in artist-led activities inspired by the royal beds at Hampton Court, bringing mental and physical stimulation to older people. Many groups of adults local to the Tower took part in reminiscence sessions about the Crown Jewels, as we gathered their memories in time for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, whilst other adults discovered the story of the Koh-i-Nur diamond in storytelling sessions. Adults took part in special workshops inspired by the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, making ceramic doves and printing tea towels; the former were displayed at Kensington Palace before being sent as a wedding gift to the royal couple. A new community book collection was created in partnership with the local library service in Kensington & Chelsea, bringing together about 100 books connected with Kensington Palace, all of which were borrowed by the public within the first few months of it being available.

...and much, much more!

Intergenerational

The Palace Explorers initiative reached a successful conclusion at Kensington, with a fashion show and several displays in local venues of costumes created by parents and children in the 'Fabric of Cultures' project. Some parents learnt the skills of storytelling, and performed in a local library, whilst others tried their hand at being tour guides for Kensington Palace's gardens. The Palace Explorers initiative - a fusion of educational activities in schools with intergenerational activities after school, as well as digital engagement - moved from Kensington to the Tower of London, where many more families got involved with a photography and storytelling project.

...and much, much more!

Access

More steps were taken to improve access at the palaces, with a new wheelchair map of Hampton Court being produced, as well as new videos of some of the more inaccessible places of the Tower of London, such as the Medieval Palace, made available on the Historic Royal Palaces YouTube channel. A group of deaf children created a beautiful dolls house at Kew Palace, and a group of adults with learning difficulties worked on a project inspired by royal feasting, growing vegetables in the gardens of Hampton Court. Historic Royal Palaces also took part in a partnership project with international museums about improving access for deaf people through digital media.

...and much, much more!