Charity’s £300K award for restoration of Ancoats Dispensary

Ancoats Dispensary

Community business charity Power to Change has awarded a £300,000 towards a £6m scheme to restore and redevelop the Ancoats Dispensary, a Grade II-listed building saved by the community in 2011.

The Dispensary is set to be transformed into a health and wellbeing community hub in the heart of Ancoats, after the Ancoats Dispensary Trust (ADT) was awarded one of the largest ever single grants Power to Change has made.

The award is another development in the Trust’s journey to raise a total of £1.1m match funding it needs to unlock a further £5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund to get the project underway.

Trevor MacFarlane, chair of Ancoats Dispensary Trust said: ‘The Power to Change grant is a remarkable endorsement for this visionary project which will save one of the most significant landmarks of Manchester’s Victorian past.

“With so many heritage buildings in the city meeting an untimely fate, the determination of the people of Ancoats to save this piece of their heritage and map out a vision for its future is exactly what 21st century heritage projects are all about.

“Ancoats is where the industrial revolution is said to have started and the role the Dispensary played in providing healthcare to an urban population, decades before the NHS, will be reflected in its new 21st century use as a place for communities to come together to take charge of their health and wellbeing.

“The Dispensary business model sees the upper two floors rented to socially responsible private and third sector organisations, which in turn subsidises the lower floor consisting of a large flexible community space and a community café. A programme of activity will run throughout the year, promoting wellbeing and bringing the communities of East Manchester together.”

A spokesperson from Power to Change said:“The Ancoats Dispensary is an ambitious project to genuinely put business in community hands, renovating an iconic and historic building in the process.

Power to Change have committed both capacity building support and – alongside other funders – investment to see Ancoats achieve its vision.”

The project is now seeking £300,000 from high net worth individuals, corporates, trusts and foundations to build on the award win.

Subject to HLF approval of the stage two bid, the enabling works will commence in late 2017 with construction and restoration starting in autumn 2018; completion is scheduled for late December 2019.

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