Matthew Mckeague
CEO @archhfund.bsky.social | communities, built environment & social infrastructure | interested in all kinds of places | music and running most of the rest of the time
- Good conditions for crustaceans 🦀. Everyone else, not so much. #Parkrun
- Interesting, rather sad piece on Ireland's disappearing small town hotels. NESPT has done some excellent work bringing hotel and holiday accommodation back to small towns in NE Scotland, so maybe there is hope for some of these www.scotsman.com/news/people/....
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- Belfast
- We like to give people authentic experiences @archhfund.org.uk of out of use historic buildings, so lovely to see so many people & supporters turning out at a slightly chilly Riddel's Warehouse in Belfast last night for the launch of our 50th exhibition. It looks spot on & is here until 18th Feb!
- Chelsea have let the Sky commentary team down here.
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- 'The project creates a space for the future that connects to the past.' Nice piece by @rowanmoore.bsky.social on Millport Town Hall, a new community space on Great Cumbrae 🏴. One we supported @archhfund.org.uk in the early stages. @gordonbarr.scot
- Reposted by Matthew Mckeague“Much of the commentary reads as if improving high streets is not a good in itself, a measure important in enhancing people’s lives, but is primarily a means of undermining the Reform vote or staunching Labour’s decline.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
- Took in the George in Wickham Market on today's 🚲 ride. A top community owned pub we helped @archhfund.org.uk in the early stages of its redevelopment following a fire. It's now looking👌
- 'Many of these new groups want their communities to own, manage and profit from enterprises far larger than the pubs and post offices once associated with community control. They want to take on the town.' > nice piece on the rise of #communityownership www.ft.com/content/a604....
- 'Many of these new groups want their communities to own, manage and profit from enterprises far larger than the pubs and post offices once associated with community control. They want to take on the town.' > nice piece on the rise of #communityownership www.ft.com/content/a604....
- 'The Economics of Belonging' by @martinsandbu.ft.com also very clear on this. Big role for civil society / social enterprises helping deliver places that are nice to live in e.g. 👉 architecturetoday.co.uk/the-butterma....
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- This is a good idea. Need to look at places like Dumfries that have been having this conversation a while and how they (and others) are approaching it www.bbc.co.uk/news/article....
- Reposted by Matthew MckeagueRead the full report here -> www.southampton.ac.uk/publicpolicy...
- Good news for a miserable morning. Two housing projects we have been involved in @archhfund.org.uk taking big steps forward. Keelman's Hospital in Newcastle, the Grade II* former keelman almhouses now being turned into affordable housing by @twbpt.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026....
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- 'A few years ago, BBC Radio 6 Music dubbed Halifax “the Shoreditch of the north” after the former mill town’s unlikely metamorphosis into a hipster haven...residents cringed...' www.theguardian.com/culture/2026... > have always thought Halifax should due for slander...
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- Bit of news from us...delighted to be announcing this new funding today, which will help support community and social enterprise-led schemes across the country to revitalise heritage assets, particularly in town centres and in areas of deprivation.
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- Reposted by Matthew Mckeaguethe local government theory of everything
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- Maybe £200m after tonight.
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- Very good piece. Watch out for a bit of upcoming news from @archhfund.org.uk on helping communities take ownership of more heritage assets...
- New post just out: "Power to the People" Today we have a guest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on how Labour can counter the "Britain is Broken" narrative by investing in civic life and giving people more control over their community. (Free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...
- St Peter and St Paul, Lavenham. No expense spared.
- Lavenham, #Suffolk. A case study in Broken Britain.
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- Was reading and watching Jonathan Meades on Belgium following a recent visit: '...every house adheres to the building line and no two houses are identical even if they share a broad gamut of gestures and devices and are more or less contemporary.' www.architectural-review.com/essays/magni...
- Reds v Blues, Salford.
- Baguley Hall, Wythenshaw. Just been taken on by Heritage Trust for the North West, which is now developing it for a range of community uses. The medieval timber-framed hall dates back to the late 13thC & is regarded as one of the oldest & finest surviving examples in England.
- Looks like they have really pushed the boat out on the public realm at Cambridge station. Am sure people will hang out here in the summer months watching the taxi rank come and go.
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- Reposted by Matthew MckeagueBeen thinking a lot about how we are talking about health and society so I wrote down some thoughts about what happens when self-care replaces collective care, and why joy, connection, and shared spaces are as essential to a nation’s wellbeing as any diet zoegrunewald.substack.com/p/when-whats...
- Exactly what I told the @archhfund.org.uk trustees I took to the pub this afternoon as part of their induction (just happens to be the wonderful community owned Ivy House we are helping support, which happens to a lot of good stuff as well as the drinking bit www.ivyhousenunhead.com)
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- Some very interesting findings here. And once again, the state of the high street a big driver of people's perceptions about their local area.
- What do people in England think about their local area? In this short report I take a look at surveys we conducted with @yougov.co.uk in 2022, 2024 and 2025 to gain some insights... Some key findings...
- 2026 is the big 50 for @archhfund.org.uk. We're celebrating with a series of events over the course of the year (more details 👇) and will be announcing some exciting plans for the future shortly. And there's a rather nice new website and look to go with it!
- Reposted by Matthew Mckeague‘If a drug boasted such benefits [as the arts] governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector.’ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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- Think my favourite part of Kunsthal Ghent was the space modelled on the painter Georgia O'Keeffe's house in New Mexico. Very beautiful. www.okeeffemuseum.org/homes/
- Agree with a lot of what @johnharris1969.bsky.social writes here and the problems of the #highstreet have lost some focus in policy terms. What needs more attention is how places like Caernarfon or Penzance are turning things around - often as a result of initiatives led by not for profits.
- Latest from me, on an eternally overlooked, sniffed-at issue that is politically huge www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
- Macc-ximum cupset. Wowsers. #FACup
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- It's our 50th anniversary this year @archhfund.org.uk. Keep an eye out for exciting news and plans over the course of the next few weeks!
- Reading about Charlemagne and Denmark in Max Adam's book about King Alfred. Am sure we've learned this particular lesson by now! 🫤
- Full moon (well, near enough) rising over Cambridge Leper Chapel.
- Red sky at night U's...won again. Decent win for @cambridgeunited.bsky.social to start 2026, against a Walsall who must have a sense of deja vu as the promotion push starts to falter once more. And at least @drfcofficial.bsky.social didn't lose. More of this please 2026!
