Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings get new funding to develop events for young adults

This week, the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings have been awarded funding and training from the Heritage Open Days organising body as part of their New Wave project.

Heritage Open Days are held each September and offer visitors the chance to see and experience a range of heritage attractions.

The New Wave programme will provide funding, training and development for our team to enable us to deliver events aimed specifically at young adults between the ages of 18-25 at this year’s Heritage Open Days. In addition to the grant the Friends will be investing some of their own funds to help to make this initiative sustainable for future years.

Our staff will be working with two of our young volunteers to develop a programme of innovative ways to engage younger audiences for Heritage Open Days in September 2021. Both online and face-to-face engagement opportunities will be explored.

Richard Benjamin, Coordinator with the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings, said:

“We are delighted to have been invited as one of only 11 organisations to take part in this project. Heritage Open Days have always been popular at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings. In September 2019 we welcomed over 1000 visitors to the site and last year our online videos, produced as part of our virtual 'Open Days', had over 10,000 views. We will take this opportunity to involve our young volunteers in developing some new and engaging events and look forward to working with them and the Heritage Open Days team.”

The restoration of the Grade I listed Main Mill and the Grade II Kiln at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings is taking place thanks to a £20.7m grant from National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, combined with additional funding from the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership via its Growth Deal with Government, and from project partners Historic England, Shropshire Council and the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings.

Alastair Godfrey, Project Lead, Historic England said:

“Well done to the Friends for being chosen to be part of this fantastic training programme. Attracting a wide and diverse audience to engage with the historic environment is hugely important and this training, which focuses on getting young adults interested in heritage and Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, is just great news all round.”

As this year’s plans are developed, they will be announced via the Friends website and social media, so please do look out for ways to get involved and celebrate Heritage Open Days this September at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings.

The Main Mill and Kiln at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings will open in spring 2022, with the new visitor experience and café opening on the ground floor and the other four floors available for commercial tenants.