Projects

Projects

The Sand House project team’s first major project was “Sand House – The Elephant in the Room“, in 2012. Since then, The Sand House Charity has been formed. The charity’s first significant venture was a six-week long exhibition in Doncaster’s premiere shopping centre, in summer 2017. More information can be found at the Frenchgate Centre Exhibition page.

In 2018 and 2019 we organised joint fundraising events alongside Doncaster Youth Jazz Association. Entitled “Sand House Rocks!“, the show evoked the spirit of the musical gatherings that occurred at the Sand House in the 1890s.

The charity’s greatest success so far came in spring 2018, when we brought the Sand House play to the stage. In 2024, it was adapted into an audio drama.

More recently, given the restriction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we took a different approach to Heritage Open Days in 2020. We produced an online ‘event’, in the form of a 20-minute long video entitled “The Sand House: Then & Now”. The success of that video led us to produce a second, 10-minute long film, for Heritage Open Days 2023.

On 29 May 2021 the Danum Gallery, Library and Museum opened to the public for the first time. It includes a permanent display dedicated to the Sand House. The content of the display was curated by The Sand House Charity.

2023 saw two significant project come to fruition. The first was the Sand House piano piece, commissioned by our Patron, Matthew Schellhorn and composed by Ben Gaunt. This 20-minute long musical treat is inspired by the carvings in the Sand House tunnels. It was premiered in March 2023 by Matthew himself, at Cast theatre, Doncaster.

The second major achievement of 2023 was the Exploring and Celebrating Culture project involving children from three local primary schools. It took place in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust.

Please click on the appropriate links within the above text to find out more about these projects..