As part of my work on the Rural Churches for Everyone project, I've been hearing from many church wardens and PCC members about how they want to do the best for their communities and their church buildings. They're all telling me how complicated they're finding it, navigating through all the information out there. So I've … Continue reading Research and resources to help manage historic church buildings for Net Zero carbon and social action.
Happy New Year! Here's a summary of projects I'm working on in 2021. Click on the pics to find out more. Blanchland Heritage CIO Blanchland residents want their Grade 1 listed Abbey and its monastic craft and produce heritage to be the heart of a sustainable future for their village. Rural Churches for Everyone A … Continue reading Current Projects
As well as my paid work, I'm also working pro bono for local environmental charity Fawside. In September we developed a bid for the Green Recovery Challenge Fund that created capacity and mustual support networks for a lot of the grassroots sustainability work going on and planned for our valleys. Unfortunately we weren't successful in … Continue reading Wild Green Recovery for the Allen Dales?
Back in July 2020, Culture Northumberland’s newsletter shared a link to a survey inviting creative freelancers in Northumberland, Coventry and Waltham Forest to contribute to research into the “crucial contribution of freelancers to the creative industries”. The study was intended to “generate new insights into the business models of creative freelancers and their relationship to … Continue reading The value of the freelance voice in 2020
The EU Horizon2020 research and Innovation Programme has recently completed thir Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas programme http://www.simra-h2020.eu/ It's a mine of robust research that backs up my own approach to supporting communities to be more resilient. Interestingly the programme is diseminating their findings and skills through a free MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) … Continue reading Social Innovation in Rural Areas
Quote today from a local land agent: "What I have been impressed by with this project is how the local community have taken full ownership of it and not relied upon outside consultants to produce the answers." ...that means I'm doing the project management right, yes? One of the volunteers seems to think so: You … Continue reading Not producing the answers
So, after getting a little exasperated with myself for failing to post here, I've lighted upon #Museum30. It is a bit like #Inktober where a word or phrase is given for each day of the month as inspiration. So I figured I'd probably be able to cover most of what I should have posted, and … Continue reading #Museum30 a whole month about museums
One of my first projects as a freelancer was to research the audiences and key themes for what was then the Nenthead Chapel Restoration Project. Today I met with Kim who has spent the last nine years working on the project, and after a damp dog walk up nearby Dowgang Hush, she showed off her … Continue reading Nenthead Chapel is go!
Epiacum and Blanchland both sit right on on the southern border of Northumberland, one with Cumbria and the other with County Durham. Both are multilayered scheduled monuments, with impressive remains still visible at the surface, intriguing their visitors.The ramparts of Epiacum Roman Fort still hold the footings of the military buildings, now over lain by … Continue reading A pair of palimpsests
I've been invited along by Curlew Class to the launch of their book this Friday. Last year I developed education resources for the North Pennines AONB Allen Valleys Landscape Partnership Scheme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. But instead of spending my time creating something Curlew Class were already working on, I supported the … Continue reading Silver and Curlews from the Allen Dales
