The Golden Key Academy is a public speaking course developing the essential skills, knowledge and critical thinking required to deliver engaging walking and cycling tours unlocking complex architecture, heritage, and urban issues

Golden Lane Community Centre entrance

 

Church Hall, St Botolph without Bishopsgate EC2M 3TL

 

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE

Saturday 8 February 10am - 4.30pm

  • 10am - 1pm
    Location: Hall, ground floor, Golden Lane Community Centre Fann Street EC1Y 0SA

    Editorial programming with Open City director Manijeh Verghes

  • Inclusion in curation with Thomas Aquilina

  • Setting up a tour guiding company/how to use tours to showcase your work with Mike Althorpe

  • Lunch break - 1pm - 2pm We have the space over the lunch break, so you can bring a packed lunch or you can pop out to get something. There is a kitchen with mugs and kettle, please bring anything you fancy for a hot drink as we can’t guarantee what will be there on the day.

    2pm - 4.30pm
    Practicalities: risk assessments/insurance/ legals/permissions/public safety/crowds/security/accessibility
    Location: Outside around the Barbican with Open City’s head of tours Merlin Fulcher. Please dress appropriately for the weather and the session will likely end at the Guildhall side of the Barbican. 

  • We normally head to the pub at the end for a drink for those who want to join!

Saturday 22 February 10am - 4.30pm

10am - midday
Location: Hall, ground floor, Golden Lane Community Centre
Fann Street EC1Y 0SA  

Researching/tours development/how to use social media, presentations by Aidan Hall and Jack Chesher

Lunch break - midday - 1pm We have the space over the lunch break, so you can bring a packed lunch or you can pop out to get something.

After lunch exclusive PoMo in the City tour for the Golden Key Academy cohort with Open City tour guide and GKA mentor Jon Wright, finishing at 4.30pm.

Tuesday 4 March 7-7.45pm

  • Virtual introduction with Alison Rae to the tour development project on Saturday 22 March , group allocations, joining info for the meeting to follow


Saturday 8 March 10am - 1pm or 2pm - 5pm

Your session time has been allocated to you by via email

  • Public speaking workshop to inspire engaging story telling with workshop facilitator Sam Swann.

  • Location: Church Hall, St Botolph without Bishopsgate EC2M 3TL

Saturday 22 March 10.30am - 4pm

  • City of London group tour development project with Open City tour guide Alison Rae. This session will be out and about so dress for the weather.

Saturday 17 May time and location tbc
Half day mentor and group focus session 

May - September

The second part of the programme will see you devise and develop your own full-length high-quality tour focussing on a theme, area or story of your choice with support from your mentor guide for delivery over the Open House Festival.

September - Open House Festival dates: 13 - 21 September


October - evening graduation ceremony, Golden Key presentation and induction into the Golden Key Academy alumni network

SESSION DOWNLOADS these will be added after the sessions

SESSION - PRACTICALITIES

The idea for this session is to give a grounding in key competencies so you can prioritise your time and focus on the really important stuff -- such as engaging audiences with your creative and analytical visions.

Download student terms and conditions

Download course timeline

Download practicalities overview

Download example risk assessment 

Download example risk assessment pdf 

Manijeh Verghese presentation download

Mike Althorpe presentation download

Thomas Aquilina on social and environmental injustice at Trellick Film Week in Wallpaper



Please do not upload these into the public domain or share, these resources are for your own use.

POCKET GUIDE SUBSCRIPTION


With Open City's Pocket subscription you will receive engaging, incisively written and architecturally adventurous walking and cycling tours directly to your door each month.

The tours feature a wide range of authors, from veteran historians to established architects and emerging critics - including Golden Key Academy graduates - each unlocking stories about compelling neighbourhoods across the capital.

Keep an eye out in the post for your first Pocket Guide in February.



OPEN CITY TOURS

We really recommend going on as many tours as you can. Past cohorts have found it invaluable attending tours, experiencing different approaches of guiding whilst starting to think about their own tours. We ask that as part of the Golden Key Academy you attend at least two Open City walking tours.


Enter the following codes at the shop page checkout on a ‘standard price’ tour ticket to book your free tickets.



GKA-2025-1-1
GKA-2025-2-2


* These codes must be used in 2 separate transactions as well as the purchasing of tickets for other people *


If you want to attend more tours for free after this, please drop us an email at goldenkey@open-city.org.uk and we will provide further codes



OPEN CITY BOAT TOURS dates coming up

Join tour guide Benny O’Looney for a boat tour discovering the extraordinary history and architecture of Thames riverside


Architecture on the Thames East - Saturday 1 March 1pm - 4pm - book now

Architecture on the Thames Central - Saturday 5 April 1pm - 3.45pm (booking not open yet)



Enter the following code at the shop page checkout to book your ticket on any boat tours.


GKA2025-BOAT

*Please purchase tickets for other people in a separate transaction*



Notes:

  • Our current tours programme can be viewed here, this is updated weekly so keep checking back.

GOLDEN KEY ACADEMY MENTORS 2025


Paul Lincoln


Roz Peebles
Jon Wright
Mike Althorpe
Nick Edwards