ST Margaret’s Community Hub at Latchford, Warrington is to receive a £15,000 lifeline grant to help it recover from the impact of the coronavirus lockdown.
The money comes from from government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, delivered by heritage experts – Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund – to support organisations in England across the heritage ecosystem that are local and national treasures but have fallen on hard times due to the pandemic.
St Margaret’s will use its funding to ensure the building can continue to run, paying bills which would usually be paid by the hire and use of the community centre. This fund will ensure the stability of the organisation and the community venue following the devastating circumstances of no income and an increase in the number of people requiring help from the charity.
Michelle Hayes, centre co-ordinator said: “St Margaret’s has been at the heart of our community for over 80 years serving the parish of Christ Church, Latchford.
“It was brought into community ownership in 1993 and has served the community since then as a community centre. We are proud that our community throughout this time has provided the residents of Latchford with a venue for education, leisure and community development.
“Covid-19 has for the first time in our 30 years of work caused us to close our doors, however, we have continued to support our residents through our work with a great team of volunteers. We now look forward to once again delivering COVID-19 safe services to our community from our centre.”
St Margaret’s Mission was built on the then, new Kingsway Estate in 1933 as a temporary mission to Christ Church. The intention was to establish a new parish with a new church and parsonage on Westy Lane. This never came to fruition and the mission ceased to be a place of worship in 1959.
It fell into disrepair but in the 1990s the local community reached an agreement with the church to bring it back into use as a community centre.
The news was welcomed by Warrington South MP Andy Carter, who was delighted to hear about the funding and how the money will protect a vital part of the area’s heritage and protect local jobs.
He said: St Margaret’s plays a big role within the Latchford community and I am thrilled this money will help them through the coronavirus period, which has been a difficult time for many community-based centres across the country.
“The community hub – supporting predominately Latchford residents, provides everything from ballroom dancing to a popular community cafe during normal times. I met with local Cllrs Karen and Hans Mundry and Michelle Wright today to discuss how the funding would be spent and their plans for the future of the site.
“As we get through this period, we need places like St Margaret’s to continue their tremendous work for the good of the local community I know this will be a welcome boost for the area.”
