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Right: Pingle School pupils making the mosaic that was sponsored by Barton-under-Needwood DFASBelow: Detail of a crewelwork bed hanging, which volunteers from Arden DFAS are helping to conservearranged for NADFAS-accredited Lecturer Bertie Pearce to give a presentation on the ‘Magic in Art’ at an open day at Cosford Museum.A mosaic mural commemorating The Pingle School’s 50th anniversary is being sponsored by Barton-under-Needwood DFAS. All pupils in Year Nine are involved with the project, together with the school’s art department, led by artist Peter Massey, who specialises in creating artworks with schools.Birmingham DFAS is supporting the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Dance Track young dancer training programme; Stratford-upon-Avon DFAS funded art projects involving bereaved children at a local hospice; Shrewsbury DFAS sponsored workshops designed to help art teachers teach art more effectively; while Stourbridge DFAS funded a visit to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham for pupils from Chadsgrove School, many of whom have physical disabilities or learning diffi culties.Over half of the Societies are organising art competitions for A-Level students. The successful work will be entered into the ‘Make Your Mark’ art competition at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, which will be a special event for the 2017 NADFAS AGM.Heritage projects are as diverse as the groups involved. For instance, the Winterbourne House Head Gardener is working with Birmingham Evening DFAS on a previously undeveloped plan for a herb circle. North Staffordshire DFAS’s project at Trentham Gardens is just one of many enterprises celebrating the tercentenary of Capability Brown’s birth. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, assisted by Arden DFAS, is conserving a 17th-century crewelwork bed hanging in Aston Hall, one of the last Jacobean houses to be built. Meanwhile, Solihull DFAS is replicating the cover of a fragile and highly valued visitors’ book from Packwood House. The replacement will be mounted onto a new book containing replicas of the original contents, such as the signatures of notable visitors (including Queen Mary) and watercolours of the house and gardens. Several neighbouring Societies are working together to record the memorials at the National Memorial Arboretum. Another joint project is the conservation project at Lichfi eld Cathedral library. The library houses the Duchess of Somerset’s bequest of 1,000 volumes from her late husband’s library, including manuscripts and early printed books. The team includes members from Barton-under-Needwood DFAS, Solihull DFAS, Stafford DFAS and Stratford-upon Avon DFAS.To date nine Societies have completed a total of 23 ‘Trails for Children’, many in churches (see the Volunteering Supplement with this issue for more on this subject). There is much activity with Church Records, too. One of the smallest Societies, North Powys DFAS, has completed the most Church Records in our Area – St Garmon at LLanfechain being the latest. A team of Church Recorders from Wolverhampton DFAS and Wrekin DFAS have completed St Luke’s Church in Blakenhall, consecrated in 1861, but closed since 2009. With the church crumbling around them, they worked from photographs and on-site in small groups with hard hats. They received a well-deserved accolade when it was handed over at the church’s offi cial closure last October.The Roman Catholic Chapel, Our Lady of the Assumption, Swynnerton, is being recorded by Stafford DFAS. Church Record templates are based on the needs of Anglican churches so changes to the protocol were necessary, but nevertheless the team met all the challenges offered by the documentation, iconography and terminology.The non-conformist Shrewsbury Unitarian Church is being recorded by Shrewsbury DFAS. This building, where a memorial plaque confi rms Charles Darwin’s attendance as a boy, has proved to be another fascinating project.An Area Special Interest Day, with Gaye Blake Roberts, Curator of the Wedgwood Museum, illustrated the close working relationship between the Area and Wedgwood. A presentation on the history of design and a look at the treasures in the collection was followed by lunch and the opportunity to study three major conservation projects in which Heritage Volunteers from Stafford DFAS and North Staffordshire DFAS have been involved. The Area was very proud when Stafford DFAS received the 2014 Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. All 16 Societies differ in their experience and strengths, but they have in common a passion for maintaining the success of NADFAS and of carrying its aims forward. ■AREA FOCUSwww.nadfas.org.uk NADFAS REVIEW / SUMMER 2016 57