South Yorkshire Group 12 Month Review

Twelve Months on from taking up the role of Chair for the South Yorkshire Group I wanted to report on the successful relaunch and the work we have put in to sustain the group and set a sound basis for future developments. We also began with a complete new committee from September 2022 following the retirement of the previous team.

The first thing we promised to do as a new committee was to engage with and listen to our members & local subscribers. We sent out a Questionnaire in October 2022 covering a range of issues, from newsletters to the cost and type of activities we deliver. The responses to this questionnaire has helped guide our actions in the last 12 months. We have changed the way we produce newsletters and, from January 2024 will change the way most newsletters are distributed. We also broadened our range of activities, be it talks or walks & visits, without straying too far from the core tasks of exploring and campaigning for our Regional Victorian & Edwardian architectural heritage. There was success on the campaigns front with the attempt by a developer to demolish the important Highfield Cocoa & Coffee House on London Road thwarted by an Article 4 intervention by Sheffield City Council.

The first year of events has been very successful which has enabled us to maintain our financial security for the longer term. This also means that we can consider new projects for the future. The activities we undertook were very well received by our Members & Subscribers and we managed to convert some of our guests into new members. More than half of the summer events were sold out, which is very encouraging.

Our new venue in Sheffield ( Showroom 5, Paternoster Row, Sheffield City Centre ) has been well received by members and, being fully accessible and close to transport links, members throughout South Yorkshire and surrounding areas are able to attend our Talks (See our events page). Our summer walks programme included visits to Barnsley & Doncaster, and we hope to continue that trend into 2024.

We will continue to respond to our members & subscribers suggestions where we can and, whilst we are all subject to the impacts of inflation and other monetary pressures, we will try to limit the affect on our supporters.

If you are interested in joining our supporters here is what to do;

For National Membership see the Join Here page - https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/join

For Local Subscriptions to the South Yorkshire Group, email [email protected]

with the subject heading 'JOIN' and we will get back to you.

Nigel Slack, Chair

03/10/2023