Landlords and householders, custodians of historic buildings, business owners even education authorities and church wardens all are being challenged to get their hands dirty in a new national campaign designed to highlight the importance of one small piece of architecture which most people take for granted yet can play a vital role in the care and maintenance of the majority of buildings.

Belfast City Council is joining forces with Queens University and 23 other district councils across Northern Ireland in supporting National Maintenance Week and a campaign designed to demonstrate how regular cleaning and caring for gutters and downspouts can add not only to the attractiveness of buildings but also their lifespan.

The week-long campaign, which begins this coming Monday (November 25), is the brainchild of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and is being co-ordinated in Northern Ireland by the Mourne Heritage Trust, the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and the Buildings Preservation Trust.  Pupils from 120 primary schools across the Province also are lending a helping hand to the campaign, by using their creativity in the Grotty Gutters and Battered Buildings poetry and art competition. 

The campaign seeks to underline the importance of building care and maintenance in protecting the character and value of buildings, and preventing unnecessary costs incurred by damp problems and decay by curing minor defects, such as blocked gutters, at an early stage.  Parishioners near Belfast recently paid £60,000 to treat their historic church for dry rot caused by a blocked gutter money that could have been saved if they had carried out an annual maintenance check. 

Councillor Nelson McCausland, Chairman of the Development (Arts) Sub-Committee explained Belfast City Councils support of the campaign:  "One of the Councils main aims is to encourage the preservation and appreciation of Belfast's built heritage.  National Maintenance Week is telling us loud and clear that if we dont look after the guttering in our buildings, it can lead to huge damage and costly repairs both of which can easily be avoided.  Needless to say, that goes for buildings both new and old.  Just a little more care in carrying out regular checks and maintenance, with due attention to proper health and safety procedures, can be the best way of protecting the character and value of any building."

Northern Ireland has more than 8,500 listed buildings and 57 conservation areas, and many of these buildings will be the subject of annual inspections during National Maintenance Week, which runs from Monday November 25 Friday November 29.