£174,000 grant awarded towards refurbishment of Telford's historic Anstice building
A grant of £174,000 has been given towards the ongoing refurbishment of Telford's Anstice building, once home to the country's oldest working man's club.
The Anstice Community Trust has been given the money to reopen the historic Anstice as a community centre.
The Trust will use the funds to modernise and redecorate the grade 2 listed ballroom, employ a centre manager and install a lift.
The funding has been awarded by independent trust Power to Change, which supports community businesses across England.
The funding comes as Madeley Town Council begins a £1m project to renovate the Anstice, which will include a new home for Madeley Library, a community café, commercial space and improved disabled facilities.
Lyndy Boden, chair of the Anstice Community Trust, said: "After four years of hard work we are delighted to contribute to the renovation project.
"There is still a lot to do but this valuable grant will help us support Madeley Town Council’s investment and bring the Anstice back to life at the heart of our community."
Renovation
Kate Stewart, director of programmes at Power to Change, said: ‘We believe putting business in community hands transforms places. It’s hard to imagine a more transformative project that this one so we were delighted to award this grant."
The Anstice closed for renovation at the end of December and work is expected to take up to a year. Meanwhile fundraising will continue at events across Telford.
It is the latest grant for The Anstice, which was given £75,000 from the Veolia Environmental Trust last week.
Built in 1870 to honour respected mine owner, industrialist and philanthropist John Anstice, the building has been key to the fabric of the community throughout its history.
Over the years The Anstice building became the home to Madeley Library, Lloyds Bank, a dentist, Madeley Rest Room and also provided a place for entertainment, education and socialising.
Anstice Square, which is overlooked by the memorial hall, became a popular gathering place for outdoor Madeley celebrations such as coronations, carnivals and parades.
In its heyday the Anstice Ballroom was famous for having ‘the best sprung floor outside Blackpool’. Lots of Madeley couples have fond memories of meeting and courting at The Anstice and club membership peaked at almost 3,000 in the early 70s.
Unfortunately the building, which was once a working men’s club as well as housing a library and a bank, declined in use for some years.
