English Heritage wants you - the future of our beloved free sites is at stake

This week, despite trying to kid myself otherwise, I've finally come around to the fact that summer is over for another year. And that gradual welcoming of autumn is fast followed by excitement at the opportunities in embracing the new season. At English Heritage, we're privileged to provide the setting for millions of happy summer days out.

But the end of summer doesn't have to signal the end of fun. English Heritage teamed up with the Express this week to offer families the chance to carve out their own stories at our incredible sites. From Dover Castle to Hadrian's Wall, Whitby Abbey to the site of the Battle of Hastings, this autumn, readers can enjoy a free day out at England's greatest historic attractions.

These may have been places where England's history was made, but they are also where new chapters can be written in our own stories; where personal memories are made, relationships forged.

And at the same time, every penny spent at these places not only goes towards looking after them, but also the hundreds of other sites that our charity cares for, many of which are entirely free to enjoy.

Many of these free sites are hidden gems - but many are world famous. Long remote stretches of Hadrian's Wall, The Iron Bridge in Shropshire - grandfather of modern buildings - and Kenwood, set in the heart of London's Hampstead Heath with its collection of world-famous paintings (Vermeer, Rembrandt and Gainsborough among others), to name a few.

What all these sites have in common is that they are irreplaceable local treasures. Whether a tiny medieval chapel or an Iron Age fort, these are places that have been at the centre of the local community for hundreds of years and remain vital to the people who live nearby.

They connect people to their local area, provide a sense of belonging and bring together communities, just as they did in the past. These are the places where people go to blow away the cobwebs, walk their dog and enjoy picnics. They host village fetes, provide venues for outdoor performances and are used as wedding photo backdrops.

They sit silently while friends gather for a heart-to-heart or couples watch the sunset. They may have witnessed the Civil War or the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but it's not just national history that has been made there.

These places are yours. They belong to everyone. Now they are under pressure. Each year, on behalf of the nation, English Heritage spends millions on maintaining the free sites in our care.

But it is no longer enough. Conservation costs are rocketing and climate change is accelerating the issues faced by our heritage - creating huge challenges for charities, seeking to protect it like us.

It is for this reason that, this week, English Heritage is launching a public appeal to raise funds in support of our vital conservation work and to secure the future of this nation's free heritage sites.

Over the past couple of years, the charity has been able to reopen some incredible places as a result of supporters' generosity.

From North Leigh Roman Villa in Oxfordshire, where work on the ancient walls and a new roof over its delicate mosaic floor has meant the public can reenter; Sutton Scarsdale Hall in Derbyshire, where major repairs have allowed us to make the Georgian mansion's imposing shell accessible again; and the medieval Royal Garrison Church in Portsmouth, where a major restoration project has reunited the chancel and nave for the first time since the church was damaged during the Second World War.

However, there are many more sites in desperate need of help.

These include an abbey where large parts have been fenced off due to structural damage; a medieval castle, the interior of which cannot be accessed until we raise funds to replace the bridge over its moat; and a 15th-century manor, closed after extreme weather eroded its fragile flint, making it unsafe.

Shutting any part of any site is heartbreaking for the local community. That is why we are appealing for help to protect our free-to-enter sites and the special moments that come with them. They give everyone the chance to connect with England's heritage in so many different ways, all for free - and that's surely worth protecting, now and in the future.

• Geoff Parkin is chief executive of English Heritage. To support English Heritage's Your Places appeal, visit english-heritage.org.uk/yourplacesappeal