Castlegate Preservation Trust
Registered Charity Number 1170599
Annual report for year ending 31 December 2023
Registered Office: 30 Muskoka Avenue Sheffield S11 7RL
Trustees during the reporting year: Valerie Bayliss (chair), Neil Berry.
The Castlegate Preservation Trust is a charitable incorporated organisation and follows the Foundation model of governance. It was registered in December 2016, and has the following objects:
To preserve, for the benefit of the citizens of Sheffield and the nation, buildings or other structures of historic, architectural and constructional heritage that may exist in the Castlegate area of Sheffield and in furtherance of this object to foster and secure their restoration and re-use particularly, but not limited to, the Old Town Hall.
To advance education for the public benefit about the history, development, significance and future of the heritage buildings and sites of the Castlegate area.
To advance education, learning and training for the public benefit by developing the skills of persons involved in restoration and particularly those involved in historic building preservation projects in Castlegate.
Further such charitable purposes (charitable under English law) for the benefit of the community in Castlegate as the charity trustees see fit from time to time.
The Trust has not used any name other than the one under which it is registered.
Activities
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 4 of the 2006 Act to have due regard to guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission.
In 2023 the Trust continued some educational activity, largely through contributions to Heritage Open Days.
The Trustees have maintained a working relationship with Sheffield City Council about its interests in Castlegate.
The Trust continues to be represented on the Castlegate Partnership Steering Group established by Sheffield City Council. This body, which includes representatives of the private, public, higher education and voluntary sectors, is central to plans to reinvigorate the run-down Castlegate area of the city centre, which have now begun with implementation of a project run by the City Council and funded through the Government’s Levelling Up Fund. The Trust continues to advise on the significance of some of the heritage buildings, listed or otherwise, in the area and is contributing to plans for future development that respect their heritage status. The Trust continues to be concerned at the Council’s failure to include the future of the Old Town Hall in its Castlegate plans, given professional advice to the Trust that failure to find a way forward for the building will have a
dampening effect on wider regeneration plans. This point has been made to the Council and other interested parties.
The Trust is also represented on a sub-group of the Partnership concerned with future arrangements for the management of Castlegate and with the scope for future grant funding for historic buildings in the area.
Previous reports noted that post-reporting period the Old Town Hall had been sold by receivers to a property developer. The developer’s appointed architects have indicated to us that plans for the future of the building are well advanced, but it is still unclear when the developer proposes to implement these. To date no planning application has been submitted to the local authority, though we understand that pre-application discussions have taken place. The trustees continue to be concerned about the deterioration of the building (see below). and continue to monitor the situation closely.
All the Trust’s work is carried out on a voluntary basis by the Trustees.
Finances
The sale of the Old Town Hall in 2019 effectively stopped the Trust’s work on preparing to raise funds to buy the building. The Trust had no income, and therefore no expenditure, in the period 1 January 2021 - 31 December 2021. It follows that there are no accounts and the Trust has not opened a bank account. The Trust has no assets and no reserves.
Future Activities
The Trust will continue as opportunity permits to take forward its more general work on the future of Castlegate as a whole, including through its representation on the City Council’s Castlegate Partnership and its educational work. More particularly the Trust has actively monitored the state of the building (from outside), given concern that there are visible leaks in the roof, and was active in the summer of 2023 in calling in the police and the City Council in the wake of episodes of vandalism which included a small fire. It has worked closely with the Council’s conservation officer on this. Some repairs were carried out as a result of the Trust’s pressure but we continue to be concerned by the poor state of the building.