The Heritage Foundation, born 25 years ago, has helped "
save
" 35,000 French heritage buildings in danger, according to its president Guillaume Poitrinal, interviewed by AFP.
"From a budget of 40 million euros five years ago, we went to 70 million in 2020 and hope to reach 80 million in 2021, even if this is insufficient in view of the task at hand,"
said -he.
“Our equivalent in England, the National Trust, has a budget of 300 million euros,” he
notes.
Guillaume Poitrinal is nevertheless delighted to see
"the important development taken by the foundation over the past five years"
, thanks in particular, he says, to the Heritage Mission for the safeguarding of endangered heritage, entrusted to the facilitator Stéphane Bern, and to the subscription for Notre-Dame.
15 billion euros and 500,000 jobs
An impact survey carried out by the Pluricité firm, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the foundation, reports “
economic benefits linked to cultural tourism
” in general of “
15 billion euros
”, directly or indirectly representing “
500,000. jobs
”in France. If "
the State takes good care of its large national palaces
", it is the foundation which receives "
the appeals for help from small municipalities, associations or individuals, anxious to save their local heritage
" and which concentrate "
80 % of the activity of the foundation
”through its means which are in particular sponsorship and the collection of donations, according to Guillaume Poitrinal. The impact survey reveals that “
a quarter of
French historic
buildings
are "
in poor condition
" while 46,000 sites were classified as "
historic monuments
" in 2020 and "
40 others listed as World Heritage by Unesco
".
86% of French people say they are "
attached to this heritage
" and 31% have already made a donation for its conservation, while 74% visit heritage sites each year, underlines the same survey.
Chapels, small theaters, museums, bridges, lighthouses, washhouses, locomotives ... with a network of 800 volunteers, the foundation helps in particular a number of villages and towns with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants.
Its “
crowdfunding
”
platform
currently collects donations on the internet for more than 2,700 restoration projects.
