Friends had a very successful and fun time at the Kelham Island Christmas Fair, raising over £700.00. Much of the income is earned from donations of old cutlery and hand tools. Please contact me ([email protected] or 07770 983913) if you have anything suitable you are willing to part with – from whole canteens of cutlery to the odd table knife, we take anything! Favourite purchases are old white handled knives. Also popular are old hand tools with wooden handles. Have a rummage now and see what you can find.
A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE HAWLEY COLLECTION
Our first member visit of the year is to the Hawley Collection at Kelham Island Museum on Wednesday 24th January from 1100 to around 1230. This is a great chance to meet the volunteers and have a look behind the scenes. There are 15 places available, if you would like to attend, please email [email protected]. We will make a donation to the Hawley Collection so please be prepared to pay £3.00 per head for the visit.
EVER WONDERED HOW SCISSORS ARE MADE?
If so, don’t miss out on our members only visit to scissor maker Ernest Wright who have their factory on Broad Lane. We have arranged the visit to take place on Wed 7th Feb from 1100 to around midday. Ernest Wright can accommodate up to 15 visitors. To book your place send an email to me at [email protected]. There is no charge for the visit.
Sheffield Home of Football is a new charity which was registered in August of last year, with the aim of establishing a programme of education and awareness about the city’s footballing history; the creation of a Sheffield Footballing Heritage Museum and the collection of memorabilia, trophies, programmes, historical records and other items for digital and physical exhibition. Friends of Portland Works trustees Andy Kershaw and John Clarke have joined the new charity as trustees so will be very busy in the coming months!
The charity has appointed Nick Partridge BEM, the former Head of Sheffield City Council’s Libraries & Archives service as its new Chief Executive.
Andy Kershaw says “ The Charity Commission were adamant that we should have a clear educational purpose to enable us to become a registered charity and so football related walks, talks, lectures will be central to our work along with outreach to schools, businesses and community groups, in order to spread the message that Sheffield is the home of football and the place where the rules of the modern game were written”.
“In 2024 we’ll be raising our profile with more public events linked to our educational mission”, says Andy.
Little Mesters Brewing Co, which is based at John Mitchell’s in Meadowhead is supporting the new charity with the production of a new beer and lager called unsurprisingly, ‘Sheffield Home of Football’.
“We hope every pub, club, and bar in Sheffield will get behind us and stock or serve the new SHOF IPA and Lager because our charity gets a cut from every sale thanks to the support from the lads Ben Shaw, Simon Offord and Neil Adgie at the brewery”, adds Andy.
The charity is holding a planning awayday on 27th January and is actively looking at several locations that may be able to offer suitable premises for a Football Heritage Museum’
Work continues on the D Block windows and surrounding brickwork. Friends have just granted £881.69 towards costs of materials including some new casements where the existing ones were beyond repair. In addition we have recently granted £789.12 for work on the Hill Street elevation which involved the removal of old sash windows by a contractor and the installation of rainwater goods. We expect to make further grants as the D Block window repairs progress. As ever, the building volunteers are doing a great job, saving many thousands of pounds that would otherwise have to be spent on external contractors. The new Building Projects Manager Paul Milnes is working with the Board of Directors to schedule the next priorities in the ongoing repairs and restoration of the works
….AND FINALLY….
Friends of Portland Works and Sheffield Home of Football are just two of over 50 local organisations attending the Sheffield Heritage Fair on the weekend of the 20th and 21st January 2024 in The Millennium Galleries. To find out more here is the link: https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/sheffield-heritage-fair-2024/With best wishes for 2024 from the Trustees: Paul, Geoff, Rachel, Carol, John, and Andy.
