Morecambe Winter Gardens Place For All

The idea

The Morecambe Winter Gardens is currently in the middle of a five year restoration project. Our wonderful volunteers last year alone gave 17,000 hours of time to the building. But some things we cannot do, such as specialist restoration work required for our beautiful mosaic floor designed in 1897 by the Campbell Tile Company & its features are unique and bespoke. Years or neglect, vandalism and damage have resulted in the floor currently covered and protected, but as the more people come into the building the greater the possible damage. We have a small window of opportunity this October to March 2024 when we close the theatre for essential work to restore & replace the many 1000s of tesserae tiles that make up the floor and replace elements of the Victorian features that were stolen under previous ownership. Help us find the funding to walk in the footsteps of legends of music and performance past and to make it once again a venue for the stars of the future.

What we'll deliver

A beautifully restored Grade 11* listed work of art for the enjoyment of all

A step closer to our target of restoring the Winter Gardens to its full original majesty

Sustaining and preserving the floor for another century of visitors to our town of Morecambe

An opportunity to take part in living heritage with funders invited to be part of the volunteer restoration workshops

Why it's a great idea

A floor fit for all restored through traditional sustainable methods by master craftspeople. To reveal what lies beneath a magnfiicent architectural feature that has been covered for 30 years. Be part of the story and help us bring back this masterpiece of Victorian design to its former glory. The foyer was designed to make a millgirl feel like a Duchess for a day and is befitting the magnficent of building. The Winter Gardens was one of Morecambe's greatest features and it is becoming that again through the love and dedication of the volunteers, the visitors and funders. By helping, you can be part of the story of the theatre and its revival at the heart of Morecambe's iconic seafront and promenade.

Steps to get it done

Costs of replica tiles, replacement tessarea and other materials £13,000

Cost of skilled conservation team over 8 weeks £17,000

Infrastucture, scaffolding, overheads and other costs £5,000

Accommodation, transport, specialist reports, other materials £10,000

Time is off the essence - the running costs of the theatre are totally self sustained by the volunteers and our forthcoming capital projects will result in closing every six months for three years to undergo the major capital works we have received funding for. It is vital that the floor is restored during this first closure period to enable us to complete it before we undergo further interventions which increase footfall and thefefore more damage. All funders & supporters will be invited to be the first members of the public back into the theatre for a preview day to see the work that has been done and to explore the theatre prior to our reopening in Easter 2024. Supporters can also take take part in the volunteer days and have a chance to be part of the restoration during the two week volunteer period where our master conservator will explain the process behind the restoration and be part of the cleaning team.

Location

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About

Dear friends, supporters, lovers of the Winter Gardens and all those who have contributed to our Spacehive funding campaign. We have just received official notification from Spacehive today that we have reached our target. A special thanks to all our donors and each and everyone of you has received a personal thanks from the Winter Gardens. We are delighted that we have reached our target of £45,000 for the cost of our beautiful mosaic floor and the work will start on the 23rd October with updates posted regularly. The funding was achieved through individual donors over 170 of them from all over the UK, with many of them having a strong love or association with our beautiful building. We reached our target through a major grant from the Pilgrim Trust which was a highly competitive two process application but one that we felt strongly matched the criteria of this wonderful charity. We must also thank our dedicated volunteers who raised over £5000 through Teddy Tombola, cake sales, fundraising events and just spreading the word locally and going door to door. Also the team from St John's Hospice and Jon Richardson for the wonderful event that raised £3650 towards our target. This £45,000 was the final piece in the £400k we had to raise to match our £2.8Million pound grant from DCMS and the Arts Council and we are delighted that we have achieved this target, the only voluntary run organisation to do so. So we will continue to fundraise for our theatre, we will continue to restore and bring it back to life for the people of Morecambe, Lancashire and the North West and beyond and of course for future generations to enjoy the glory of what is without doubt one of the jewels of Morecambe. Thank you so much as well to the local businesses that supported us, The Inn Collective, Morecambe BID, Silverdale Seaview Holidays and all those individuals who contributed from £5 to £3000 (thank you Elsie Kennedy) and Mike Peel for your generosity. We look forward to welcoming you back into the Winter Gardens next Easter and you will be invited to a special preview of the newly restored floor and also the new staging which we hope to have in place. I am so proud to be part os something special for my hometown and overwhelmed by the support of all. Thank you Professor Vanessa Toulmin Chair Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust.