image: SAVE
SAVE Britain’s Heritage has announced events across the country to celebrate half a century of campaigning and ‘engaging and equipping communities to bring new life to remarkable buildings.
SAVE writes:
To celebrate our 50th anniversary year, SAVE Britain’s Heritage is announcing a national programme of activities aimed at engaging and equipping communities to bring new life to remarkable buildings.
SAVE’s 50th programme will take us all over the country, including Glasgow, Sheffield, Norwich, Plymouth, London, Liverpool and Rotherham. We will be working with local partners, communities and professionals to explore the value of our old buildings. We believe they have a vital role to play in addressing some of society’s big challenges, from reducing carbon emissions to transforming the social and economic fortunes of communities. From Lister Mills in Bradford (whose towering chimney is once again a symbol of local pride) to Tate Modern in London (now one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions), reviving once-loved local landmarks is a win-win.
SAVE’s anniversary programme includes panel discussions, creative workshops, public interventions – and an evening celebrating the heritage of nightclubs. Our headline events are:
NORWICH: Sustainable development in historic cities
15th May // In partnership with The Norwich Society
This one-day conference will explore how sensitive development in historic areas can harness the potential of historic buildings, support local needs and drive economic growth. Taking place 10 years after the landmark ‘Cathedral Cities in Peril’ report, the event will examine how cities like Norwich can balance conservation with the pressures of housing demand, tourism and regeneration, offering practical insights and case studies from across the UK.
PLYMOUTH: Community ownership as a regeneration tool
22-23rd May // In partnership with Nudge Community Builders
We’ll get out on the streets exploring the future of Plymouth’s at-risk buildings with walking tours, films and other activities. Events will uncover the city’s rich entertainment heritage, highlight long-empty buildings and explore how new economic strategies and sustainable community ownership can support regeneration. SAVE will share lessons from national campaigns, while local organisations and policymakers discuss how Plymouth’s historic buildings can be reimagined for contemporary use. The programme will also feature an evening celebrating the heritage of nightclubs.
GLASGOW: Heritage, reuse and the climate challenge
Summer // In partnership with New Future and Friends of The Pipe Factory, currently renovating a C19th B-listed former clay smoking pipe factory into a space for creative collaboration
With the built environment responsible for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions, the challenge of decarbonising development has never been more urgent. This panel discussion, hosted by SAVE and bringing together experts in heritage, sustainability and policy, will explore the challenges of retrofit and heritage conservation and their social, economic and environmental benefits.
SHEFFIELD: Craft, campaigning and celebration
12th July // In partnership with Sheffield Historic Buildings Trust
Sheffield’s industrial and craft heritage is central to its identity, but many historic buildings remain at risk. This day-long event, celebrating the launch of Sheffield Historic Buildings Trust, will explore how local expertise, building preservation trusts and grassroots action can bring redundant buildings back into use. Talks and walking tours will highlight significant at-risk sites, including the first repair project at Bower Spring Cementation Furnace. An exhibition will highlight recent community-led research, mapping heritage at risk with areas of deprivation.
We will also lead guided tours of some of SAVE’s biggest victories, including Liverpool’s terraced Welsh Streets and Rotherham’s grade I-listed Wentworth Woodhouse. As the first step in our year of celebrations we launched a new graphic identity and website, where you can read more about these cases. And on 18th March we are for the first time opening up our national Buildings at Risk register to universal access – making it free to everyone. During the year we will be unveiling a new film showcasing SAVE’s work, as well as our Act Now! Toolkit – your guide to protecting buildings near you. The year will culminate in a special lecture kindly hosted by the V&A Museum in London.
Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, said: ‘In this our anniversary year, we are launching a renewed drive to grow SAVE as a popular, campaigning movement. This campaign will reinforce and enhance our leading voice in the protection and transformation of old buildings. We will hold a series of events in Glasgow, Sheffield, Norwich and Plymouth helping to build and support a growing community of individuals and groups across the UK who actively care about the buildings, streets and places where they live, work and play. Each event will be different – focusing on local places that people are concerned about or national issues like reusing old buildings, reviving high streets and new development in historic contexts.’
SAVE has been at the forefront of the movement to rescue – but crucially also to reuse – historic buildings for 50 years. We want to use our 50th birthday as an opportunity to equip a new generation. Evidence clearly shows historic buildings are catalysts for economic growth, community development and environmental sustainability – yet 50,000 buildings a year are demolished, many of them needlessly. Throughout the year we will be celebrating stories of rescue and reuse while also drawing attention to buildings in need of a champion.
Henrietta Billings added: ‘The challenges we face are daunting yet exciting, especially where we are successful in mobilising the wider public to support and engage in our movement. Together we can ensure the restoration, revitalisation and reuse of thousands of remarkable buildings that will become beacons of social and economic prosperity and environmental sustainability, for the benefit of people, places and planet. Together we can make a difference.’
More details will be announced on our website and social media channels.
