Another Successful ‘Buildings at Risk’ Project Launch in South Derbyshire!
- Admin
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Spurred on by the remarkable success of the initiative in Amber Valley and Derby, where our amazing volunteers have surveyed over a thousand Grade II listed buildings, our dedicated team have had a busy week launching the ‘Buildings at Risk’ app project in South Derbyshire!
The launch of the new ‘live’ project area got off to a flying start with two public information events for potential volunteers.
We welcomed a great variety of people from within the local community and beyond to the Melbourne Assembly Rooms on Monday 11th August and Sharpe’s Pottery Museum in Swadlincote on Tuesday 12th August.
These two beautiful Grade II listed buildings, both key parts of community life and heritage, formed the perfect backdrop to launch the project in South Derbyshire.
The events started with a relaxed registration and a chat between the team and volunteers, followed by an introduction to the Trust’s work and background to the project led by Allan Morrison, the B@R project’s lead trustee.
After this introduction, Anna Cluley (DHBT’s Heritage Development Officer) gave attendees a brief overview of the B@R project and the vital role played by volunteers. As well as the aims of the project, Anna demonstrated and explained the innovative B@R app, developed by our colleagues at the West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust with support from Historic England, which volunteers use to complete simple building condition surveys of Grade II listed buildings.
Unlike traditional volunteering opportunities, the B@R app offers complete flexibility to suit each individual volunteer. A condition survey can be completed in a matter of minutes so that participants can easily fit the project around their existing commitments.
No previous experience is necessary, and it doesn’t matter whether volunteers complete one survey or several hundred! All contributions are extremely valuable in helping us to protect vulnerable historic buildings.
After the presentation, attendees had an opportunity to have their questions answered by the team and enjoy some refreshments and conversation with likeminded people.
Those keen to get started with the app immediately were then able to complete their interactive volunteer training led by DHBT trustee Peter Milner- always a fun experience with plenty of laughs and lively debate!
The newly trained ‘Citizen Surveyors’ then received hands-on support from our experienced team to download the app and complete their project registration.
We were delighted by the number of enthusiastic volunteers who signed up for the project at our launch events, as well as all those who came along to find out what it is all about and show their support for the initiative. This included a wide spectrum of people from local heritage and community organisations in addition to representatives from South Derbyshire District Council and members of MP Samantha Niblett’s team.
An extremely successful, enjoyable start to the new phase of our project! Watch this space to find out more about the progress of the ‘Buildings at Risk’ project in South Derbyshire in the coming months.
If you missed our launch events in South Derbyshire this week, but would like to get involved or receive some support with our ‘Buildings at Risk’ project, send the team an email to:
We are always happy to provide online support or arrange a 1:1 support session at a time to suit you.
This project was made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Lottery players.
