The Reader at Calderstones secures £1.99m HLF investment

The Reader at Calderstones secures £1.99m HLF investment

Two children read books as part of a Reader session
Two children read books as part of a Reader session

Building on work that has already taken place on the site since 2013, the Reader at Calderstones project will restore and showcase the heritage of the Grade II listed Mansion House and the Neolithic monoliths known as The Calderstones. These forgotten treasures are older than the Pyramids and will now be brought back into the heart of Calderstones Park and their condition will be significantly improved. Liverpool City Council, National Museums Liverpool and University of Manchester have all been consulted as part of the process.

Initial work will begin to secure the building which over the years has fallen into a state of disrepair. Currently hidden architecturally significant elements will be carefully revealed and restored, bringing the building back to life.

The finished building will house a heritage room which will show how one of the rooms may have looked in 1880 with visitors having the opportunity to interact with objects and learn about the history of the house at that time. There will also be four key reading rooms allowing The Reader to continue their shared reading groups, bringing people together to read great literature out loud as a practical way of improving wellbeing, building stronger communities and extending reading pleasure. A newly created bistro will also allow visitors to relax after their visit and soak up and reflect on the atmosphere of the house.

Dr Jane Davis, Director of The Reader says “We’re delighted that HLF has given us this support. It will allow us to grasp this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create something truly special at Calderstones for the city of Liverpool and beyond. Not only will this mean we can offer more of our reading groups and continue to grow our wellbeing initiatives here but we can carefully bring The Calderstones themselves back to their rightful place at the heart of the park to be enjoyed and cherished by visitors”

Sara Hilton, Head of HLF North West, said: “The Reader is a real Liverpool success story that helps thousands of people get together to share their love of reading. We were hugely impressed by these proposals that will bring an exciting new use to the 19th century Mansion House and help many more people discover the history of the 4000 year-old Calderstones. Special thanks must go to National Lottery players for making our investment possible."

Notes to editors

The Reader is an award-winning charitable social enterprise working across the UK to connect people with great literature and each other. Established in 2008, its mission is to build a reading revolution and to create environments where personal responses to books are freely shared in reading communities in every area of life. The Reader is commissioned by, and work in partnership with, forward-thinking organisations in public and mental health, social care, education, criminal justice, local authority, corporate and voluntary sectors. Together, they use the transformative power of literature and shared reading to encourage social interaction, increase confidence and resilience and bring about positive change to people’s lives. Find out more by visting The Reader's website, by via following them on Twitter.

Further information

Emily Crawford, Communications Manager at The Reader, on tel: 0151 729 2200

If you query is regarding our application portal, please contact our support team.