With support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, work will begin on the renewal of Glasgow Green’s historic West Boathouse this week.

Over five years in development, the West Boathouse project will repair and adapt this beautiful listed building to improve accessibility, upgrade facilities and provide flexible, multi-use spaces. A new pontoon will ensure safer access to the river for a wide range of groups. The renovation project runs in tandem with community heritage activities designed to open the building to new audiences and encourage people to re-engage with the River Clyde.

Caroline Clark, Director Scotland of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:  “The restoration of Glasgow Green’s historic West Boathouse means many more people will be able to enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits it offers. Thanks to players of The National Lottery, the transformation of this historic building will bring this stretch of the river back to life allowing communities to explore and enjoy it’s natural and cultural heritage. As we continue to celebrate Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters, we are delighted to see construction commencing and applaud the Trust, volunteers and the many partners and supporters for their hard work in reaching this exciting point.”

​Glasgow Building Preservation Trust (GBPT) has been working with volunteers from the two rowing clubs based in the West Boathouse, Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club and Clyde Amateur Rowing Club, to secure its future and encourage new users and audiences into the building and onto the river. The £2.7m project is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland, The Robertson Trust, Glasgow City Council, the William Grant Foundation, The Hugh Fraser Foundation, the Architectural Heritage Fund and many others.

Amy Eastwood, Head of Grants at Historic Environment Scotland, said:  “We are delighted to support Glasgow Building Preservation Trust with £360,000 funding for the West Boathouse project as part of our Historic Environment Repair Grant. The works will not only repair and conserve the historic West Boathouse, but allow the building to be adapted to provide the local community with accessible facilities and fantastic multi-use spaces.”

​Beginning in February, the year-long programme of renovation and renewal will be led by ARPL Architects and overseen by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust. The work will sensitively restore and futureproof this riverside landmark in the heart of Glasgow Green for future generations.

Andrew McConnell, Staff Director of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, said:  “Everyone at Glasgow Building Preservation Trust is excited that work to restore the West Boathouse is underway. It has taken five years of development and collaboration with stakeholders and we’d like to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and all of our other funders and project partners for their continued support in getting us to this milestone.”

As part of the National Lottery Heritage funded project, a program of events and outreach has been developed and coordinated by a dedicated heritage engagement officer, embedded within the project since 2019. Over the past year, the engagement officer has worked with communities living and working along the river from Glasgow Green to the Cuningar Loop. The rich heritage of the area includes a wealth of stories and places to explore, from rowing clubs to bowling greens, audacious schemes to straighten the river, dye works and bandana factories to historic court cases ensuring Glaswegian's access rights to the riverbanks. The programme has included boatbuilding with volunteers from Glasgow Disability Alliance, developing nature walks along the banks of the river and celebrating the sporting heritage of the east end of the city.

Glasgow Building Preservation Trust is delighted to welcome five new appointments to the Board.  
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Following an open recruitment process, the Board will benefit from the skills and experience of Liz Davidson, Charles Turner, Karen Mailley-Watt, Dr Andrew Agapiou and Kate Anderson.  We know that the new appointments will continue GPBT’s work and strengthen our connections in Glasgow’s heritage communities and further afield.  The new Board and GBPT staff have already begun to plan the DOD Festival for 2021 and are excited to help shape this popular and established festival for next year.

 Find out more about all of our Trustees here. 

The 31st edition of Doors Open Days in Glasgow was entirely online with 94% new content - an amazing achievement by the volunteers and participating venues, who adapted to the circumstances with their usual enthusiasm!  
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This year's programme included 3D Models, Audio Trails, Competitions, Live Tours, Videos, Webinars and Presentations.

Don't worry if you missed any of the festival as you can watch all of the wonderful contributions on our Festival Website.

With events and festivals across the country already cancelled and in recognition that social distancing measures will be with us for some time, GBPT took the decision in May to commit to a Digital Festival this September.  The response from participant venues has been fantastic and we look forward to a range of webinars, film screenings, podcasts, 3D digital environments and more! The programme launch will be mid-August and the festival will run 14-20th September.
More info available here.

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The Trust has published its new Strategic Plan for 2020-23, which sets out the strategic objectives for the Trust over the next few years and incorporates many of the outstanding recommendations from our Strategic Renewal project under the broad headings of:

• Building stronger partnerships
• Broadening our Boundaries
• Investing in our Future
• Developing our Audiences

You can read more about it here.

We are sorry to report that Dave Sutton passed away on Tuesday 26 May 2020.

As a longstanding member and latterly trustee of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, we will remember Dave for his integrity, principles and kindness.  Whilst he was often fearless and determined in advancing those principles in the work of the Trust, he was always generous and kind to his fellow trustees and staff team.  We all recognised Dave's longstanding experience and commitment to heritage, community and planning sectors.  His insight, forthright contributions and voice will be sorely missed by the Trust.

Our thoughts and condolences are with his family at this difficult time.

Glasgow Building Preservation Trust is a charity that works to rescue, repair and restore historic buildings at risk across the city.  Since 1982, we have worked in partnership with others to give historic buildings a new purpose and return them to their communities.  The Trust also organises the annual Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival in September, which celebrates and promotes the city’s architecture and rich built heritage.

We are looking to recruit volunteer Trustees to build on the Trust’s success to date and help steer it towards its future goals.  They will work alongside the rest of the Board and staff to continue to raise the profile of the organisation whilst ensuring that an effective business strategy and financial safeguards are in place for the charity.  It is an exciting time for the Trust as we look to develop new projects across the city.

Whilst the roles are voluntary, training will be provided and reasonable travel expenses offered.
 
We would like to encourage applications from BAME communities, women and younger people. 
 
We would particularly, but not exclusively, welcome applications from people with experience in any of the following areas:

• finance and accountancy
• property and construction law
  
• business development
  
• events
  

Further information is available here.

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact Andrew McConnell, Staff Director by email or telephone on 0141 554 4411.

With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Glasgow City Council and the Architectural Heritage Fund, Glasgow Building Preservation Trust undertook a feasibility study into the future of the Old Stable Courtyard in Pollok Country Park.  The study was commissioned by Glasgow City Council’s Land and Environmental Services and was completed in early 2018.  After a hiatus, the release of the reports has now been approved.

Click 'read more' to view the summary and reports

Our 2018 Annual report is now available to view! 
Click 'read more' to browse our e-version.

The National Lottery has confirmed a grant of £1.37m to Glasgow Building Preservation Trust to redevelop a historic boathouse on Glasgow Green.
Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, the Rejuvenation of the West Boathouse project will open up the River Clyde to all by removing barriers in order to enjoy and share the social, physical and psychological benefits of being part of a diverse river community.  The project will redevelop the historic timber structure into a fully shared and accessible facility to enable other groups to utilise the building and access the river Clyde.