Dronfield Heritage Trust
9 January 2025
Sector: Charity
Location: North East Derbyshire
The Dronfield Heritage Trust is a historic buildings preservation charity and was founded in 2007 to oversee the restoration of the Grade II* listed Dronfield Hall Barn.
The Barn officially opened in 2015, and over the subsequent ten years the Trust has developed a popular venue for community heritage, arts, and natural history activities. The Trust also manages a wholly owned trading subsidiary company to run the popular Barn Café, and a historic venue space for weddings, corporate, and social hire.
The Trust is supported by three staff members, and a team of volunteers for front-of-house hosting and garden maintenance.
Challenges faced
Between 2015 – 2020, the Barn hosted up to 30 weddings a year which provided a significant income to the Trust for the maintenance of the building and the development of community events. During the pandemic lockdowns, the Trust continued to offer community support, but soon noticed a significant fall-off in the number of wedding bookings. Nationally, the weddings market was changing, and together with competition from other Derbyshire and south Yorkshire venues, this presented a sustainability challenge to the Trust.
The overall increase in direct and indirect costs, and competition for charitable trusts meant there was pressure to make the most of the space available. How could the Trust fulfil its commitment to deliver free community-focussed activity whilst maximising the commercial opportunities provided by a beautiful venue and quality catering offer?
Solution and Impact
Sam Reavey, Creative Manager and Andrea Kilner, Coffee Shop Manager worked with Paul Stuart, Head of Business Support Services at East Midlands Chamber through the Accelerator project. Accelerator is funded by North East Derbyshire District Council’s share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and is delivered by the Chamber.
Paul helped the Trust to apply for an Accelerator Growth Voucher which was used to fund a specialist consultant.
Sam says: “The help we received from the Chamber and Paul was excellent. He talked me through the process of applying for the voucher and was on hand to offer advice and suggestions. We spent time on Zoom discussing the application and with his help, we were successful in receiving the Accelerator grant.”
Through the one-to-one adviser support, Sam and Andrea were able to consider the options available to balance the use of the function space with the on-going growth of the Coffee Shop and catering offer.
A number of Trust employees have also taken advantage of free training events including Marketing Made Easy for Tourism Businesses, Practical Guide to Marketing, Practical Guide to Leadership and Management, How to Safely Update your WordPress Website and Using Video in Content Marketing.
Chairman of the Dronfield Heritage Trust Alan Powell added: “We became a member of the Chamber just over a year ago and really appreciate the practical support available to both the charity and to our trading company. We will continue to draw on Chamber expertise, networking and marketing opportunities as we head into our 10th Anniversary year.”
“The support from first contact to conclusion has been brilliant. Really supportive and knowledgeable.
What we have been able to receive wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Paul and the other staff we have dealt with.”
- Sam Reavey, Creative Manager
This initiative is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and delivered by East Midlands Chamber on behalf of North East Derbyshire District Council.
