The Whitaker awarded National Lottery Heritage Fund grant

New life is to be breathed into The Whitaker in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, after the museum secured a £1.7m Stage 2 National Lottery Fund Grant (NHLF).

The money will be used to transform the old barn and stables into a large catering kitchen and an event space for functions. This will allow the existing cafe and bar to be moved, in turn doubling the space currently available to the museum.

The vacated rooms will showcase artefacts from the museum’s extensive collection and will provide a themed area, which will include memorabilia from Rawtenstall’s Astoria Ballroom, which hosted bands like The Animals, Kinks and The Who in the early 1960s.

Buttress acted as project manager for The Whitaker, supporting the team in delivering the successful NLHF Stage 2 application.

The role included preparing a Conservation Plan and a Management and Maintenance Plan, supporting the production of activity and interpretation plans as well as the creation of the project programme, cost plan and project execution plan.

Managing Director of The Whitaker, Carl Bell, said: “The theme of the expansion is nature, society and creativity.

“The had a great belief in the whole wider project from day one and this has partly kept us going for years. The other part has been our tremendous staff, volunteers and of course our visitors and local community."

“Thank you all so much and thank you to the National Lottery players. This is another big step in the renaissance of the Valley watch this space.”

Director, Stephen Anderson, added: “I am delighted that the funding has been agreed. This is an exceptional project that will make an incredible contribution to the whole of Rossendale.”