The Bronte Birthplace gets a boost from Bradford 2025
A campaign to save the Bronte Birthplace in Thornton village has received a boost in advance of Bradford's forthcoming term as the UK's City of Culture in 2025.
Bronte Birthplace Limited has been awarded a grant which should help the organisation make a successful bid to secure future of the house in Market Street where Charlotte, Emily and Anne and their brother Branwell were was born and lived before moving to Haworth.
With an offer made to the current owner having been accepted the grant from Bradford 2025 means the possibility of reopening the Bronte Birthplace as a cultural and educational space now becomes a reality.
Stephen Stanworth has campaigned for more than decade to safeguard the birthplace. He said today: "News of the grant from Bradford 2025 has been greeted with joy by everyone in the group. Our vision to see every Bradford school child visit this historic house and be inspired by the story of the Brontë sisters in the year the city celebrates its cultural history and aspirations, and to also welcome visitors from across the world to their place of birth, will now happen. We still have a long way to go to in raising the additional funding to restore the house, which needs substantial repair, but the fact we also have planning permission to build a cafe and open the sister’s bedrooms as accommodation means the final piece of the jigsaw in the story of three girls from Bradford who became the greatest literary family the world has ever known has been secured."
Fellow committee member Sarah Dixon who has worked tirelessly with the group on the grant bid and the business plan added: "We have an ambitious target to raise to restore and manage the house and but news of our successful bid for the house and the Bradford 2025 grant is an enormous step in the right direction. We would encourage people to buy shares via our community share offer and I would appeal to local businesses and organisations to come forward and help us by becoming patrons. We are thrilled beyond words to receive funding from Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and are excited to move to the next stage of moving forward with our plans."
The group is one of more than twenty which has been successful in securing awards from the Bradford 2025 Cultural Capital Fund. Dan Bates, the Executive Director of Bradford 2025 said: "The Cultural Capital Fund is a great example of our ambition to increase investment in the cultural infrastructure within the Bradford district giving residents and visitors alike greater opportunity to experience the arts, culture and creativity during 2025 and beyond."
[News item posted by Eagle Intermedia 12th October 2023 based on material supplied by Bronte Birthplace Limited.]
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