Orchard Barn Environmental Education Centre

Orchard Barn is a volunteer-run centre for environmental education in rural mid Suffolk providing practical training in traditional timber framing and construction techniques.

Students are taken into the woods to learn to source / hand convert trees into timber and dig clay. Over 5,000 trainees/volunteers have benefitted over the years with hands-on learning on practical projects that keep the East Anglian tradition of building with earth and trees alive (now with increased relevance to challenge of combatting climate change).  The volunteer working parties typically last from 9am-3pm.

The Radcliffe Trust has been delighted to support Orchard Barn several times over the years including supporting their volunteer activities including making repairs to the timber frame of a Suffolk Long House using local trees and converting them into a greenwood shingle roof, making and fitting lathe for ceilings and walls and using hot lime plaster.

The latest Radcliffe Trust grant enabled Orchard Barn to pay a local craftsperson to provide training and subsequently supervise volunteers in traditional greenwood working.

The photograph shows a typical working party having a well-earned break in the sunshine.

Veterans' Growth

Veterans’ Growth is a charity based on five acres of peaceful farmland in East Sussex. It supports veterans struggling with mental health challenges. Their programme combines rehabilitation with skill-building activities such as horticulture and woodworking. One of their most successful initiatives is the “Small Acorns” woodworking project, partly funded by The Radcliffe Trust.

Veterans’ Growth’s experienced in-house green woodworker gives workshops on the disappearing art of traditional rake-making, using traditional tools and materials. This is a heritage craft listed on the Endangered Crafts Register.

The Radcliffe Trust’s grant enabled participants to work with locally harvested green wood to create a variety of items, including rakes, fencing, benches, and decorations. These products were sold at community fundraising events, raising over £3,000 for Veterans’ Growth and supporting the project’s self-sustainability. The woodworking activities proved to be highly inclusive, particularly for veterans with limited mobility, as they could craft items using soft green wood and hand tools. Furthermore, the project was active year-round, offering a viable alternative during winter months when other site activities were limited by weather.

The rake-making project delivered profound impacts for veterans and also the broader community. By engaging in the endangered craft of rake-making, veterans developed practical skills, gained a sense of purpose, and experienced therapeutic benefits. The hands-on nature of woodworking helped reduce anxiety, improve focus, and foster mental well-being. This structured activity boosted confidence and supported veterans reintegration into civilian life, offering opportunities to build new hobbies, careers, or volunteer roles. This activity was so successful it will be continued.

Sound Waves - Mull Music Makers

Mull Music Makers offers young people on the island of Mull the opportunity to learn the violin and develop general musicianship. Mull Music Makers creates musical opportunities for youngsters living in a severely under-serviced and remote island community. They have an innovative, blended model of delivery focusing on developing core musicianship skills, classical technique, ensemble coaching and performance through free and regular access to online and in-person violin workshops.

The Radcliffe Trust grant was able to support eight weekend workshops and a 5-day summer school delivered in the 2023-24 season for over 50 young people from all corners of the island. Lead tutor, Patsy Reid created a number of bespoke multi-part arrangements especially for Mull Music Makers and parts were taught using a well-balanced mix of learning music by ear and note reading. In-person and online sessions for a new intake of beginners in their Early Years were also delivered.

Music skills from in-person workshops were further developed and supported by a course of online videos and tutorials. These were designed to support practise at home and keep motivation levels up in the gaps between workshops.

Thanks to Patsy Reid’s pool of contacts, the youngsters worked and performed with some of Scotland’s finest musicians and educators, experiencing music from a diverse range of teaching styles and genres along the way. This year’s guest tutors included Duncan Chisholm, Hamish Napier, Richard Michael, Seonaid Aitken, Signy Jakobsdottir, Anna Massie, Sam Sweeney, Jack Smedley, Roo Geddes and Alasdair Savage. Many guest tutor weekends resulted in additional community concerts and ceilidhs which the wider community were also able to enjoy.

Textile Conservation Foundation

The Radcliffe Trust’s most recent grant was used to provide bursaries to three students on the two-year MPhil Textile Conservation programme at the Kelvin Centre for Conservation and Cultural Heritage Research.

One student graduated this year and successfully secured employment at The People’s History Museum, and the other two students are progressing to the second and final year of the MPhil.

None of these three students, would have been able to study textile conservation without The Radcliffe Trust’s generous support. The longer term impact of the Trust’s support can be seen from 15 individuals who have benefitted from the Radcliffe Trust’s support since 1994. The contribution they are making to the profession internationally is continuing today.
The key lesson learned over many years is that, if we are to continue to have highly skilled textile conservators preserving our textile heritage for future generations, securing funding for bursaries will continue to be absolutely vital.