Place & Wellbeing Research for Sunderland’s Heritage Action Zone
Launched in 2017 by Historic England and Sunderland City Council, the Heritage Action Zone is reviving the historic high streets of Sunderland focussing on Fawcett Street, Church Street, High Street East and High Street West. There is a wealth of historic buildings in this area but many have fallen into disrepair and disuse. By funding repairs, finding new uses for empty buildings and engaging the community, the initiative aims to act as a catalyst for economic growth.
In 2019, Historic England and Sunderland City Council commissioned ERS to assess the impact of the Sunderland Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) initiative on local residents and to better understand the relationship between people’s well-being and the character of the local area.
The assessment considered the sense of place and wellbeing of under-represented groups in the city amongst the youngest community members in a local primary school and older residents living in multi-storey blocks.
Activities with the school have included a heritage walk, work on listed buildings, and lessons on heritage. Work culminated in a celebratory assembly, led by the children and attended by parents and carers. We also worked with residents of the tower blocks, carrying out focused engagement work.
Throughout this project we tested and assessed new tools and activities (including adjusting for Covid-19), looking at the impact the work on local historic buildings ha on local residents’ health and wellbeing, sense of place and belonging, and the levels of engagement with local culture and heritage by under-represented groups.
Intended audiences for the evaluation include government departments, other funding providers and educational organisations in the heritage and cultural sectors. A baseline report was submitted in 2020 and we submitted our final report in August 2022.
Read our report here: