Langport Funday

On Sunday we had our first public presence, as part of the Langport Funday.  Even though this wasn't our own event, it was still very important for the project as it was the first time some local people had heard about the project.  We all know how imporant first impressions are! It was also a nice warm-up for New Saints' Event Management skills before we embark on our very own events in Langport. 

Our presence at the event included one of the stalls on the Rec - from this we were giving out leaflets (see below), signing people up to our e-newsletter, doing facepainting and selling cupcakes to the crowds. All of which went down very favourably, hooray!

  

 We also took the opportunity to have the church itself obviously open to visitors and got a very healthy 21 people into the church.  This was a real triumph as it meant we could speak to locals and tourists about our project whilst standing in the space that it involved.

All in all, a very good (if soggy) day for all of us.

We have our New Saints Logo!

And this is it:

We managed to get it sorted just in time for the first event where we go public (but I think that deserves it's own blogpost later).  From this whole logo, we are also going to use different elements in different parts of our branding, so for instance, this monogram:

... can be used on letterheads and business cards, whereas this derivation of the logo:

... can be used on funding applications and other formal documents.

The logo design has come a long way over the last few weeks, here are some of the previous drafts:

 

It'd be great to have some feedback, what do you think?

Blog Statement - Mark Small

Name: Mark Small

Why do you want to be involved in the project?  I have always had an interest in historic buildings – specifically churches and castles - and during university I discovered a passion for regeneration projects, so when the opportunity to be part of a regeneration project focussing on a church building came along, I jumped at the chance.

I also very firmly believe in the ability of young people to work better, if not as well, as the ‘old people’ community, and this project is an opportunity to prove young peoples’ worth and justify their voice in a community.

What kind of new opportunities are you looking forward to?  The project has already brought along lots of new opportunities for me – before New Saints I’d never chaired a meeting, or arranged site visits for groups of heritage professionals, or written funding applications.  One of the new opportunities that I’m looking forward to is creating a heritage project that uses social media like blogging, twitter, facebook, linkedIn and digital photos to enhance and extend the project.  I think if we do this right, we could create a model of practice for future heritage and regeneration projects.

How will working with the project help your future?  Being part of the New Saints group has given me a lot of confidence in my abilities, more than one person that I’ve met at distinct parts of the project has commented on how much I’ve grown through this work.  Working with the project has already put me in contact with a whole range of influential people, which could potentially have a huge impact on my future.  Having the project under my belt will also be great for using as examples during job interviews.

Where would you like to take lead in the project?  I’m looking forward to the next few phases of the project where we’ve made a decision on what the new use will be and start comparing designs for the actual physical regeneration work.  I’m also interested to see the results of our community consultation initiatives.  One area that I would like to take the lead on is the social media side of the project as it is a passion of mine.

How would you like to celebrate achievements?  I think the biggest celebration of our achievements, for me, will be when I see the church packed full of people – of all backgrounds, ages, and genders.  Seeing the church used and valued is the ultimate endgame. 

Newsletter number 1

Ladies and gentleman, I can now cut the ribbon and raise the curtain on New Saints very first and totally electronic newsletter! *Fanfare*

You can see a copy of the newsletter here

...and if you're really interested you can join our rapidly increasing mailing list to receive newsletter #2 hot off the press!  Exciting stuff!

(In the interest of getting the highest exposure and not missing out anyone who might not have got to grips with emails yet, we're also working on a hard copy that we will distribute around public Langport)

Presentation time!

Last week, myself, Alice and Tadgh gave a presentation about our project to the South West Association of Preservation Trusts at Great Bow Wharf in Langport.

This was good fun - we were given the 'graveyard slot' just after lunch, so I had made sure our powerpoint presentation was a bit off-the-wall to keep everyone's attention, it included slides like this:

and this:

... just to keep people on their toes.  It seemed to work!

The purpose of the presentation was to give members of local Preservation Trusts a bit of background on the project that they might have heard about from our newspaper articles and radio appearance, but also to enlist their help (hence the 'HELP!').  These guys are the representatives for a lot of the exemplar sites that we want to make our Go&Sees, so making a good, enthusiastic impression was very important!

From the meeting, we learnt more about the Walronds project, and the Dawes Twine Works Building in West Coker, as seen on the BBC's 'Restoration Village' show in 2006 (something to aspire to, eh?)

On top of all this, it was a great opportunity for our young people to get some experience in presenting in front of people, and talking to people about the church.  It was also really nice to meet a whole room full of people who were wholly behind the idea of giving a significant gr1 building to young people to create its' future! Hooray!