Telford's historic Anstice to be refurbished thanks to £1 million council gift

The Anstice in Park Avenue, Madeley, will be refurbished in 2019, with a new lift and disabled facilities added.

It follows years of hard work by the Anstice Community Trust to restore the building, which was once home to England's oldest working men's club.

The ground floor will be altered to provide a new location for a library, cafe and retail units.

The work is being funded by Madeley Town Council, whose members voted to fund the project during a meeting.

Town clerk Phil Griffiths said: "This is a good news story. It's going to be a tough road and we have a lot of work to do, but politicians and the public have been very supportive."

The money will come from reserves, money the council has set aside and a potential public works loan, although the exact details of funding will be decided in the coming months.

The building will be closed for up to 12 months from the end of 2018 while it is refurbished. The work is expected to begin in January 2019.

"The trustees will have some work to modernise the upstairs, but that is fit for purpose," Mr Griffiths said. "The ground area is not.

"We've got to find a way to accommodate a library, a cafe and to get the front of the building restored so we've got something that looks wonderful for Madeley."

Anstice Community Trust said in a statement that the news was “fantastic” and that fundraising would continue to provide extra facilities to turn the building into a centre Madeley could be proud of.

The listed building, which has a first-floor ballroom, has over the years been the venue for dances, concerts and social functions.

Plans to reopen it hit a obstacle when its boiler was condemned, its wiring had to be upgraded and work was needed on emergency lighting.

But after hard work from volunteers, it was reopened for concerts and events, and was available for public use such as wedding receptions.