On Wednesday 15th March the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced a quarter of a million pounds of new funding for Swindon’s Railway Village Heritage Action Zone.
This is to support the Cricketers Arms building to be refurbished by the Mechanics’ Institution Trust. The building is Grade II listed and has been derelict for a number of years. It was formerly a pub used by railway workers at the Great Western Railway works.
The building is planned to house a community makerspace supporting unemployed people with disabilities and carers to learn professional sewing skills in order to work flexibly from home, run by charity Community Opportunity. This is planned for the ground floor, with other uses for the first and second floor above, such as artists’ studios or flats. Funding has already been secured for the exterior refurbishment. The new grant will pay towards the interior refurbishment of the building.
David Thackray, Chair of Mechanics’ Institution Trust, said, “We are delighted to receive the funding from the Community Ownership Fund to progress the restoration of the building to make it suitable for accommodating Community Opportunity and also find other uses for the first and second floor spaces.”
Emma Snow, CEO, Community Opportunity, said, “This new funding will help us open our community makerspace to support local people in Swindon, supporting unemployed people with disabilities and carers to learn to sew professionally and start their own businesses. I have experience of unemployment due to a disability myself, and worked with other people in similar situations to pilot the makerspace project. For our first course intake, a virtual course during COVID lockdown, we were very oversubscribed and filled all our 100 course places within 2 days, so it shows there is a lot of demand. We needed to find a permanent home in order to support people longer term. The Cricketers is perfect as it is easy for people to travel to, and also close to Swindon’s main shopping areas where people can sell their products.”
Councillor Matthew Courtliffe, Swindon Borough Council, said, “We are delighted that our partnership with Historic England through the Heritage Action Zone has attracted this much needed funding. This will not only restore this derelict building, but also help our community through providing employment opportunities for local people with disabilities and carers, who are most in need of support. Our long term plan is to refurbish all the derelict buildings in the Railway Village, including both the Cricketers and Swindon Mechanics’ Institute.”
Read more about the Cricketers here.
