The charitable status of NADFAS is based, in part, on the existence of volunteers in its associated societies working on heritage projects in their area. The Heritage team at NADFAS House in London scrutinises and approves all projects.

BDFAS has several groups of members working under the umbrella of Heritage Volunteers, all undertaking very valuable work, often under the supervision of restoration experts.

Mary Price, who heads up the Heritage Volunteers (standing) with members of the textile group who are working on canvas kneelers for Stonyhurst College

CURRENT PROJECTS

Two members are undertaking an audit of the Gun Barrel Proof Museum prior to its accreditation.

2012 is the bi-centenary of Pugin’s birth. Our heritage volunteers have offered to help with stewarding at open days to be held by small venues which do not have their own resources.

A new national NADFAS project has recently been started, working with Parks and Gardens UK to expand their website database: www.parksandgardens.ac.uk. Historic cemeteries are regarded as ‘urban green spaces’ and are therefore included. A group of volunteers, led by Judith Al-Seffar, is currently working with the Friends of Key Hill Cemetery on their biographical archive, housed in the Pen Museum, collecting and formatting appropriate data for entry onto the website. This has proved to be a very popular project and, at the moment, all available volunteer places have been filled.

Textile Volunteers will soon be making calico covers for the vestments in Blessed John Henry Newman’s study at the Oratory. We have also started to stitch the canvases for long kneelers for a chapel in Stonyhurst College in Lancashire following a design produced by Helen McCook, who worked on the embroidery for the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress.

At the City Library BDFAS volunteers have been trained in the conservation of photographs by Tony Barratt and his staff in order to assist with the project of conserving the 25,000 photographs on Sir Benjamin Stone, Birmingham MP and Mayor of Sutton Coldfield, who was born in 1838. As a politician, traveller and pivotal figure in the industrial culture and philanthropic life of the city, Sir Benjamin was able to document his times. Once the task is completed the photographs and negatives will be ready to move to the new library, planned for 2013.

Heritage Volunteers work in the Special Collections Archive and the book conservation project, both at Birmingham University.

In 2007 volunteers were recruited from amongst BDFAS members to catalogue and clean the Franklin Collection of Chinese ceramics, now on permanent display in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Renovation of a 200 year old Trophy of Arms at the Gun Barrel Proof House – a two year project which included dismantling, cleaning and polishing over 1,000 metal parts before reassembling and returning to display on the main staircase of the Proof House.

Between January and the end of March 2009, a team of 11 BDFAS members worked in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery under the direction of Veronika Antoniou, a conservation expert, cleaning some of the city’s collection of Boulton gold and silver items.

Work was completed on textiles for Harvington Hall, Coughton Court and the Birmingham Oratory and we have also worked on conserving Victorian church Banners.

May 2008 - a wonderful collection of photographs of historic vestments at St. Chad's Cathedral taken by Dr. John Davis, with a comprehensive catalogue compiled by Dr. Margaret Davis, were presented to Canon Browne at St. Chad's Cathedral.

A group cleaned the silver collection at the Birmingham Assay Office under the guidance of Dr Sally Baggott, the Curator and Archivist, in preparation for the bicentenary celebrations to mark the death of Matthew Boulton.