Newbury community arts hub appeal

The public are being asked to support a campaign to convert the old library building in Newbury town centre into a community arts hub.

The Corn Exchange (Newbury) Trust, which comprises of the Corn Exchange, 101 Outdoor Arts and the Learning Centre, and which also manages The Base Greenham, wants to restore the building, creating a permanent home for their creative participation work to engage local people with the arts, providing a long-term creative space and community hub.

The amount of £2.6 million is required to fulfil the Corn Exchange’s plans to open the Old Library in early 2025, £1 million of which has been funded by Greenham Trust, for the acquisition of the building, repairs, and conservation.

Now, a public fundraising campaign is being launched to repurpose the interior space, and complete plans to meet the creative wellbeing needs of the Newbury community.

Key projects which will find their home at the Old Library include Ageing Creatively, addressing social isolation of older communities with regular classes with 5,000 engagements annually, and Links to Thrive, a pioneering ‘arts on prescription’ project bringing free creative opportunities to people with a range of mental health conditions.

Careers in the Arts (run jointly with the Watermill Theatre) will also operate from the new venue; this programme works with local schools and young people to raise aspiration and awareness of the career opportunities within the creative industries and to develop transferable skills through creative engagement, advice, mentoring and fully funded placements. This area of the company’s work is flourishing, with 27,000 attendees across these programmes in 2022/23.

Inclusive opportunities

Jessica Jhundoo-Evans, Director of Corn Exchange Newbury said:

"We are asking you and everyone we know to help us raise the money to transform the Old Library into a new community space and a permanent home for our creative participation activity. This area of our work provides a wide range of inclusive opportunities with specific projects for young people, schools, under-5s and new parents, over-55s, and a thriving youth theatre. It provides a lifeline to many local people and is more vital now than ever before: reducing social isolation and loneliness within our community; improving mental health locally; and supporting young people in building confidence and self-esteem.

"The Old Library is the perfect new space and we are asking for your support to help open up this historic, much-loved Newbury building for our community. With dedicated engagement spaces, a small café/bar and a place to gather and connect with others, the possibilities for our communities are really exciting."

For further information and further updates on the campaign, visit cornexchangenew.com/oldlibrary.

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