Bringing Antique Furniture Back To Life | Sunday School Stories Heritage Workshop
4 June 2024
At Sunday School Stories, we're inviting you to learn heritage building skills to help sustainability, give new purpose to beautiful objects of the past, and bring together like-minded people as part of our community hub.
In May, under the guidance of facilitator Ethan Gallesio, our fantastic volunteers learnt all about wooden furniture restoration, breathing new life into antique cabinets that will be part of our Sunday School Stories activities for all next year. Learn more about the skill-building and community spirit below alongside photos of the hard work plus beautiful sketches of the atmosphere captured by illustrator Florrie Ann Thomas.
Sunday School Stories' second round of heritage workshops saw professional art conservator, Ethan Gallesio, lead two pairs of volunteers/participants across the experience, making sure everyone involved was able to practice, working together overcoming challenges while learning new skills on furniture restoration.
What makes this activity so special is the fact that community members from different walks of life have engaged in restoring our furniture, which will be part of our exhibition and activities space once our Sunday School Hall is open to the public in 2025 [find out more and donate to support its restoration here].
Our heritage workshops are a fantastic opportunity to open Union Chapel’s doors to wider audiences, creating volunteering opportunities, as well as spreading the word about our heritage, architecture, social justice, and music legacy while being part of a creative experience as part of the Sunday School Stories Project programme.
As a result of volunteering at the Cabinet Restorartion, we are pleased to welcome on board Tony Freail, who will be joining our Maintenance team volunteering regularly as maintenance assistant; showcasing his skills and sharing his knowledge with us on building conservation and repairs.
As part of the creative process, we continued to expand our artists catalogue with a fantastic illustrator, Florrie Thomas. She volunteered her time to record our workshops with her artwork, adding her personal touch to the workshop experience. See some of these stunning sketches below:
Want to be a part of a Sunday School Stories activity in the future? Check back on this page for future announcements, or subscribe to get Heritage updates direct to your inbox here.
What our participants had to say...
“I enjoyed spending time working with my hands in the company of other people. It was a nice environment!” - Sofia
“The relaxed atmosphere was really welcoming” - Bertie
“Real sense of community!” - Ahmad
“Thank you so much for the opportunity. It was really great to meet everyone involved. I look forward to hearing more about the progress of the project and the future exhibition, exciting! I got to achieve some great drawing but also getting involved in the workshop was GREAT” - Florrie
“I really enjoyed working on a heritage project and learning new skills. It was wonderful being part" -Tony
This will all be made possible thanks to support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery Players, as well as City Bridge Foundation, The Clothworkers' Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Wolfson Foundation, Foyle Foundation, Benefact Trust, National Churches Trust, Friends of Union Chapel, The Rose Foundation, Islington Archaelogy & History Society, Union Chapel Members, and individual supporters, with thanks to the Mayor of London.
