Turning Leaves, Turning Pages

As autumn draws on, progress continues behind the scenes at the Old Town Hall, and we thought you'd appreciate a little update.

Building Project Update

We are currently in the process of tendering for the principal contractor, with the intention of appointing the winning contractor in December 2025.

The plan is for work on the project to begin in January 2026, with a projected completion date of Easter 2027.

The final details of the design have been completed, and we are awaiting listed building consent. We have been working with a consultant to design the scaffold for the work, which has been completed and is awaiting final approval.

Activity Plan News

This is a large part of our overall project as it aims to engage with the whole community in terms of activity, accessibility, interests and needs. Up to now, the focus of the Activity Plan has been our Town Hall Histories, where a team of volunteers is researching the stories of the people associated with the town hall since 1821, including the original 123 donors and people involved in court cases or other uses of the building. The outputs from this will feed into many other parts of the project and activities, so it was an important place to start. It is ongoing and there's plenty to research if you'd like to get involved! See here for details of our next meeting.

We have also been involved with the town-wide celebrations of Charles Worth, famous son of Bourne. While we could not host any events at the Old Town Hall, we were pleased to have been able to work with The Aveland History Group, Bourne U3A, Kei Bailey and current Stamford Poet Laureate Ross Ayres to put on a writing workshop and poetry event at the Red Hall.

For the Heritage Open Days in September, we had an information stand in Wake House in Bourne and were able to talk about our project to many people.

Fundraising Events

We continue to hold fundraising events for the ongoing costs not covered by our grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Our quiz, music and talk events with local performers continue to be popular and we thank you for your ongoing support as we run these pop-up events in alternative venues. Visit our Pop-Up Events page for more details.