Halle gains cash to redevelop Ancoats church

MANCHESTER’S Halle orchestra has received two major donations which will allow it to redevelop St Peter’s Church in Ancoats as a rehearsal space.

The Halle was awarded £702,000 from Viridor Credits Enviornmental Company and £150,000 from Garfield Weston Foundation to support the redevelopment of the church, which will also provide a home for the Orchestra’s education and community programmes. It will also provide a base for the Halle Choir, Youth Orchestra and Youth Choir.,

The Hallé Choir was founded by Sir Charles Hallé (alongside the Orchestra) in 1858. It is being advised on the development of St Peter’s Church by Manchester law firm George Davies.

John Summers, chief executive of the Hallé, said: “This is brilliant news, both for the Hallé and the sleeping beauty that is Ancoats.  

“We are delighted to be able to focus our education and community work in an area which played such a central role in Manchester’s emergence as a city of world significance.

“We are hugely grateful to both Viridor Credits and the Garfield Weston Foundation for giving us such an excellent start to our fundraising campaign.”

Lisa Nelson, general manager of Viridor Credits, said: “We were inundated with entries for our tenth Anniversary Commemorative Awards but the Hallé really stood out to us. Not only will it help to restore the impressive St. Peter’s Church for everyone to enjoy, but it will also help to provide valuable space for the prestigious Hallé Orchestra, helping to regenerate this area of Manchester.”

The former St. Peter’s Church is located in Ancoats, a part of Manchester that is widely regarded as the world’s first industrial suburb. The Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) recently inherited the Ancoats Urban Village project from the North West Development Agency.

HCA’s North West executive director, Deborah McLaughlin, said: “The proposed use of the building by the Hallé will no doubt provide a fantastic boost to footfall in Ancoats, in turn helping the wider regeneration of this important part of East Manchester.”