The Friends of Bank Hall is the new charitable name for the former Bank Hall Action Group who are a voluntary group which aims to raise public awareness and secure the future restoration of Bank Hall, a Jacobean mansion house and gardens, near the banks of the River Douglas, in Bretherton, Lancashire.
The group is affiliated to the Heritage Trust for the North West, which has assisted in raising awareness and will run a visitor centre at Bank Hall when the building is restored.
Formation
Bank Hall Action Group
After local interest, John Quirk, a Chorley Guardian journalist, created a "Save Bank Hall" campaign. The first article appeared on 12 July 1995, asking the public to help the save the building. John Quirk met Gordon Johnson from Bretherton and Carol Anne Strange from Leyland who were among the people who replied and suggested an 'Action Group' to save Bank Hall.
Friends of Bank Hall
In 2011, the Bank Hall Action Group needed to achieve charity status to enable the restoration project to continue to the next level due to the campaign progression. From 2012 the Bank Hall Action Group will run alongside the new charity group and will gradually be phased out and all work, events and plans will be managed by the Friends of Bank Hall. As of May 2012 the membership for both groups became combined. In November 2011 the constitutions were agreed and submitted to the charity commission. As of 6 June 2012 the Friends of Bank Hall was officially a registered charity.
Meetings
The first meeting of the Bank Hall Action Group was held on 26 July 1995 at The De Trafford Arms public house in Croston. The Group have met on the first Wednesday of every month since, with an Annual General Meeting held at the May/June meeting. The Lord Nelson public house in Croston was a regular meeting place for the group, which featured in part of the Bank Hall Restoration Campaign in the BBC's Restoration television series of 2003. The FBH and BHAG meetings are now combined and continue to meet once a month.
Group structure
The Bank Hall Action Group comprised a group Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Press Officer and Membership Secretary, along with general members and friends of the group. In 2012, when the group gained their charitable status and became ‘The Friends of Bank Hall’, the group structure changed to become a 16-member trustee group which included the above structure along with general group members. The friends of the group merged in with the general membership.
The friends also have a non membership volunteer role, these are people who want to help, but on a less formal position as a member who attend meetings and assist with the group subcommittees. Volunteers attend to help the members at events and with maintaining the gardens.
Achievements
On Tuesday 26 September 1995, a conference was held in the council chamber at Chorley Town Hall, the first achievement of the campaign. The outcome was to carry out a feasibility study on the hall. In December 1995, the group's first chairman, Gordon Johnson, met Lord Lilford's agent, who gave the group permission to access to the grounds. Work started to clear the undergrowth to access the building. The group cleared the walled garden and the perimeter of the hall where a security fence was erected enabling public access to be granted to the grounds and trees were cut down creating an area for events. The hall was cleared of debris, bricks were stored and visitors taken on tours of the parts of the house that were accessible. A feasibility study carried out by Niall Philips of Bristol in 1996 reported that it was feasible, practical and desirable to save Bank Hall. On 14 February 2012, it was announced that the £1.69 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund had been awarded for the restoration project to commence. Work on the building is scheduled to begin in late 2012.
Projects
"Tower Appeal" was launched in 1996 with the aim of securing funds for scaffolding to prevent the tower from further collapse. In 1998 scaffolding was erected around the tower to prevent further collapse. The £32,000 cost was partly funded by the sales of the first edition of the Bank Hall Red Book which was published in the same year. "The Million Pennies Appeal" was launched in 2006 and raised over £1,000 towards the restoration project. The Appeal was closed in 2010 so that efforts could be concentrated on the Moment in Time Appeal. "Moment in Time Appeal" was launched in 2008 to raise funds for the restoration of the tower clocks. "Potting Shed Project" was launched in 2011 to prepare the potting sheds and greenhouse area for restoration with help from volunteers.