Dear Supporter, We have the following items in this edition of the JUHS newsletter: Best wishes, Joined Up Heritage Sheffield JUHS bi-monthly meetingThe next JUHS bi-monthly meeting is on Tuesday 28th January 2025 at 10:30am and will be online only. Everyone is welcome to attend online via Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82085481828?pwd=v1EP5uW9hMjEXzVRlPZvbx4e93ui8i.1. Our guest speaker is Sally Rodgers, JUHS trustee and newly-appointed Engagement Officer at Sheffield's Archives and Local Studies Library. We are really looking forward to hearing from Sally about her new role and plans for ensuring that these hugely-valued resources become better-known, used and appreciated by more people from wider communities in the future. At our last very well-attended bi-monthly in the newly-restored Leah’s Yard we heard from JUHS trustee Robin Hughes about the history of this important Grade II* listed site. You can hear his talk on the JUHS YouTube channel and a recording of the whole meeting is also available for a limited period at: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/9F-_k5ADohBA7paqqgBQmrV5bs47JYGhCuX5VRLLAKyx6S2QWIbUyOO2AHuWgDh9.wJhOQ_xwvVySmXpb?startTime=1732617408000 Passcode: 93XPC%9w JUHS bi-monthly meetings are open to all, whatever their interest in heritage. They are an opportunity to hear from local heritage groups about their work and a great chance to make connections and to discuss problems and opportunities for Sheffield’s heritage. Can you help JUHS with social media?Are you or someone you know social-media savvy and would you like help the cause of heritage? Joined Up Heritage Sheffield needs help to increase our online presence, and we are looking for a volunteer to help us by posting upcoming events and sharing heritage news stories. Our main platforms are Facebook and X/Twitter. If you're interested, or know someone who might be, please email info@joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk. URGENT - How will the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 affect your group?When the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 comes into force, it will require any organisation offering goods and services in exchange for a recurring subscription or donation to comply with new consumer protection measures. These include allowing a cooling off period, issuing refunds when requested, and issuing regular reminder notices to subscribers. Small heritage charities could fall into scope if they offer, for example, a scheme by which members of the public donate £5 a month to be 'friends of' the organisation' in return for a newsletter or discounted entry to the site. There is an opportunity to join a Department of Business and Trade roundtable on Wednesday 15 January 2025 at 11:15-12:45 to discuss the impact on heritage groups and ask questions. If you would like to attend, please email Policy@theheritagealliance.org.uk by Monday 13th January. The Department of Business and Trade is also running a consultation online and wants to hear about any issues this raises. See Sheffield's heritage on show at the Heritage FairSheffield Heritage Fair is back for 2025! Celebrate Sheffield’s rich history and meet more than 40 local heritage groups at a weekend-long fair at the Millennium Gallery, Arundel Gate, Sheffield S1 2PP. The fair is open on Saturday 25th January from 10am to 4pm and on Sunday 26th from 11am to 4pm. Admission is free, but visitors are welcome to make a suggested donation of £1 to help cover the cost of organisation. David Templeman has, as always, done the city proud in working with Sheffield Museums to organise this superb event to showcase all the rich variety of our heritage and the wonderful volunteers who care for it. We at JUHS would also like to take the opportunity to express our gratitude to Ron Clayton who has played such an outstanding part in organising the fair and acting as its "Master of Ceremonies" in previous years. Historic Environment Forum features JUHS in their Heritage Sector Resilience Plan InterviewsThe Historic Environment Forum is a collaborative initiative that brings together senior representatives from organisations working across the historic environment sector in England, including Historic England and the National Trust. They have produced a Heritage Sector Resilience Plan and they have recently been conducting interviews about Embedding Heritage in Wider Public Policy. This was an opportunity for JUHS trustee Robin Hughes to tell the wider heritage world about what we are doing in Sheffield. Read his interview here. Your vote counts: help Sheffield Castle dig win national awardThe Sheffield Castle dig has been nominated in the Current Archaeology Awards 2025. The awards celebrate the people and projects who have made outstanding contributions to archaeology. Please vote for Sheffield Castle in the 'Rescue Project of the Year' category. The title to look out for is From stronghold to Steel City: uncovering the ‘birthplace of Sheffield’. Cast your vote here. Voting closes on 10 February 2025. Sheffield City Council puts heritage at the heart of its Growth PlanIn a sign that the Council's adoption of the JUHS Heritage Strategy is starting to take effect, feedback from Joined Up Heritage Sheffield has been incorporated into the Council's new Growth Plan, approved by their Strategy and Resources Policy Committee yesterday on 11th December 2024. The draft plan included a section on heritage, but it was confined to just the chapter relating to culture ,and heritage was barely mentioned elsewhere. Following our feedback the plan was updated so that now the importance of heritage to the economy is recognised throughout. You can view the plan as well the accompanying report that summarises how the plan has been developed. You can also view the webcast for the Growth Plan item. Welcome Birley Spa Preservation TrustFriends of Birley Spa have transformed themselves into Birley Spa Preservation Trust, Charitable Incorporated Organisation (registered Charity No. 1211178). This is a massive step forward for them and will mean a huge change in what they are able to do and achieve. Thanks are due to Andy Kershaw who helped them to achieve this. Look out for a Launch Event where people can come and meet them and learn about their plans for the future. After six turbulent years, they are hopeful that finally they are in a position to make a real difference for Birley Spa and our community. Exciting times ahead! Read their recent blog post or view their charitable objects and other charity details. Help to find WW2 air hero Donald George Bayliss RAFVRJeff Hewitt has contacted us with this appeal for help. If you have any information or can identify Sgt. Bayliss in the photograph, please contact Jeff on jeffhewitt1952@outlook.com. "I am an amateur WW2 historian helping members of the Stichting Adoptiegraven CWGC Venray War Cemetery in Holland trace any living relatives of men who are laid to rest in the War Cemetery. Their aim is to obtain a facial photograph of each and every man laid to rest there. "We are currently looking for any living relatives of Sgt Flight Engineer Donald George Bayliss RAFVR who was killed when the Lancaster Bomber in which he was a crew member that crashed in Germany on the 16th November 1944. He was the son of Alfred and Florence (nee Crook) Bayliss of 122, Oval, Firth Park, Sheffield. He was born on the 3rd December 1923. He had two sisters, Olive born in 1918 and Diana born in 1919. "Here is a photograph of the crew of the aircraft on which three crew members have been identified. We believe that Donald is one of the other men in this photo."  Sheffield Quaker history comes to the streets of SheffieldAlice Collins is researching the history of Sheffield Quakers, and is planning an exciting venture portraying some of that history in an outdoor promenade performance around Hartshead. If you or someone you know has information about Sheffield Quakers and their history or would be interested in helping, please email info@joinedupheritagesheffield.org.uk and we will put you in touch with Alice. How you can help the Ancient Woodland Inventory Update projectSheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust are leading the Ancient Woodland Inventory Update for South Yorkshire. We are looking for volunteers to undertake surveys of potential ancient woodland sites across South Yorkshire, looking at botanical and archaeological evidence. While we always welcome returning surveyors, no previous experience is needed. Training materials will be provided. We are also looking for volunteers who would be willing to undertake archival work, doing a combination of online research, looking at old maps, and potentially in-person visits to archives in South Yorkshire. If you’re interested in joining us, please email volunteering@wildsheffield.com to apply. More information is also available on our volunteering page. Portland Works on the BBC websitePortland Works is flying the flag for Sheffield heritage. This BBC website news story describes how the efforts of a determined group of campaigners rescued it from being turned into flats and instead ensured it would become home to a new generation of creatives, finally becoming a fully-fledged community-owned venture in 2013. More than 30 craftspeople now use the works, including a specialist knife-maker, engravers, bike makers and artists. The item features chair of Portland Works Peter de Lange, violin maker and repairer Emma Hardy and model maker David Riley. Free access to the 1921 censusFrom 1 Jan 2025 all Sheffield Libraries have free access to the 1921 census for England and Wales. All public computers in our libraries and archives now have free access to the 1921 census via our subscription to FindMyPast. Why not start looking up your ancestors in 2025? Contact your local library to find out more. Protecting built heritage - DCMS Select Committee enquiryThe Culture, Media and Sport Committee is to examine the importance of built heritage in the UK and the barriers to its preservation. The inquiry will examine issues with funding and whether current finance models are suitable and accessible. It will also engage with how the Government can tackle practical and regulatory challenges, such as the availability of skilled practitioners, the managed decline of assets on publicly-owned land, and policy issues arising from net zero targets and planning policy. Alongside this, MPs will highlight the importance of built heritage for economic regeneration and to community identities, as well as how those communities can be empowered to manage their local built heritage assets. Click here to find out more. The deadline for submissions is Monday 3rd February 2025. | 