We continue to need your help to save the Ballogie Souter's (Shoemaker's) Workshop in rural Aberdeenshire. It is a unique place with all of the tools, shoes, shoe boxes and leather scraps still in place as if the Souter had just walked out to go for lunch.

The workshop and shop were built in 1896 for the Souter (Scottish for Shoemaker), James Merchant, who worked there until his death in 1941. Shortly after he died, the shop was closed and lay untouched until it was given to the charity Birse Community Trust in 1999.

Believed to be the only example still in situ in the UK from this period, the Souter’s Shop and Workshop are A listed, but as the building has deteriorated over the years, the collection inside has also deteriorated. We therefore need urgent funding to repair the building and conserve the contents.

As a charity we look after the Souter’s Shop on behalf of the community, and we have been raising funds to save this special place. We were delighted to raise enough money to start phase two of the project, decanting the collection, packing and storing it ready for repair work and repairing the building itself. We would like to thank all our funders big and small who have got us this far.

The building repair work has now been completed thanks to Stewart Wilson Joinery, and the Souter's Workshop is looking cared for again.

Work is ongoing on conserving and surface cleaning the vast collection of artefacts inside the shop and workshop. Professional conservators from AOC Archaeology are training local volunteers to carry out this work, bringing new skills into a rural community and bringing people together forging new friendships with a shared interest.

We do need to continue to raise funds to keep the project going and to protect the Souter's Workshop and its unique collection of artefacts into the future. We have shown how small donations can really add up and we would ask for your continuing support to the Souter's Project.

Please also follow our progress, events and activities on Facebook and Instagram and our website as we continue phase two.

@birsecommunity

www.facebook.com/BirseCommunityTrust/

www.birsecommunitytrust.org.uk