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Lytham Town Trust
Lytham
Assembly Rooms, Dicconson Terrace, Lytham, Lancashire FY8 5JY |
Lytham Hall - its Acquisition and the Future
| THE FORMAL OPENING OF THE WEST
WING by the RT HON MICHAEL JACK, MP |
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| The official opening of the West Wing
took place on 13th July 2007 and was attended by well over 100
guests. The occasion was also a celebration of 10 years of
management of Lytham Hall by HTNW and was an opportunity to
encourage local people to make full use of the facilities at the
Hall. The following is a record of the two prime explanatory speeches given by two directors of the Lytham Town Trust board, David Gill, secretary and treasurer, and Alan Turner, a member of the joint HTNW/LTT executive committee, following an introduction by the chairman of the Board, Stan Kitt. Michael Jack and the mayors of Fylde and Blackpool then spoke, in praise of the work that has been done in bringing the Hall into use and emphasising the need for greater public support in the future.  It seems worthwhile publishing here the notes on the acquisition of the Hall and the statement on the financial support required for the future. An Endowment Fund has been set up and contributions are being sought to build it up to around £10m, the sort of level the National Trust would consider a minimum. |
| The
Acquisition of Lytham Hall - - - David Gill Lytham Town Trust is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status. Its board consists of a number of elected members and members nominated by organisations that represent the local community, including Fylde Borough Council, Lytham St Annes Civic Society, Lytham Heritage Group, the Friends of Lytham Hall and BAESYSTEMS. |
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| When the Trust was formed in 1990, with the
primary objective of preserving buildings of architectural interest
in Lytham, the Board's sights were set on the former Lytham Baths
building. This reverted to its original name, the Assembly Rooms,
when it was acquired by the Trust later in that year from Fylde
Borough Council on a 125 lease at a peppercorn rent. As you will all
know, running public buildings is a costly exercise, but the Trust,
which started life with no money whatsoever, was able to manage the
Assembly Rooms and 'balance the books' thanks to Guardian, which
took on a lease of the offices on the first floor and so helped to
subsidise the costs of running the Assembly Rooms. When Lytham Hall was put up for sale in 1996, the Board of the Town Trust immediately resolved to try to acquire the Hall, without really knowing how this might be achieved. Thanks to a great extent to the contacts of our Life Vice President and former Board member, Frank Roe, British Aerospace (as it was then) came forward with a magnificent donation of £1m, which enabled the Trust to buy the Hall. The initial elation of solving the problem of how to acquire the Hall was then quickly replaced with the problem of how to run a large, Grade I listed building, as the Town Trust did not have then (and does not have now) either the human resources or the money to manage such a large venture. The National Trust would not take on its management without a substantial endowment, which we could not provide, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that we scoured the land for options. Fortunately, within less than 12 months, an agreement was reached with the Heritage Trust for the North West (or Lancashire Heritage Trust as it was then) to manage the Hall on the Town Trust's behalf on a 99 year lease, the tenth anniversary of which has just passed. During that 10 years a great deal has been achieved, both in terms of the facilities at the Hall and the extent of public access, both of which have continually improved. Many donations and grants have been made for the benefits of Lytham Hall from people and organisations that are too numerous to mention, but many of whom are here today, and I should like to thank you all on behalf of the Town Trust and the Heritage Trust for the North West for your generosity and support. There is still much to do in order to secure the Hall for the future benefit of the community and I am going to hand over to my colleague, Alan Turner, to tell you about the first steps we have taken to do so.
The not-so-good news is that we are just £9,260,000 short of the £10m which John Miller has set us to raise before we are fully functional. If HTNW had not come to the rescue, and the National Trust or English Heritage could have been persuaded to show an interest in us, the £10m would have been an up-front conditional requirement. Under the 99-year lease, with which the fund runs in parallel, Pendle has to pay LTT £1 pa (not forgetting the VAT) and is responsible in the first place for fully repairing, maintaining and insuring as well as operating the Hall and 78 acres of grounds, allowing LTT 2 places on the 4 man management board. LTT is obligated, under the lease, to co-ordinate local help (over 100 volunteers who offer their time and services cheerfully and willingly, and I am pleased that some of them are official guests today) and to procure and apply funding to support Pendle for the benefit of the Hall. That is where the endowment fund comes into it. I am entirely confident that with local community help, and from further afield, we shall be able to build it up to £10m. Someone said that, with the number of premiership footballers buying houses here, all we need is for them to forego one week's wages and we are almost there. That is not likely to happen, but I am encouraged that, in the 1980s, my church received £610k from two most unlikely sources. Inheritance Tax saving comes at 40% and giving by tax payers through gift aid increases the gift by 28%. There are similar tax efficient schemes for giving by firms and organisations. The priority of the LTT Board is now the Fund, and we shall have to decide when the time is right for the appeal to go public. Blackpool Grand Theatre did it and so can we. We believe that there is a tremendous feeling in the community for this place, and we hope that you will go away today to encourage support, having seen and heard about the seeds which have already been sown. With Lottery money, which we hope will be £4.5m, all to be spent upon necessary specified capital projects, we could be fully operational in 5 years, but we shall need the income on the £10m to ensure that we keep Lytham Hall as the flagship for Lytham. Many people know us because of our windmill, but the Hall will not only be a wonderful community asset but also a major attraction in the North West, with massive benefits for the community at large. I am a newcomer to Lytham (25 years and 49 days) but we all must surely be mindful of the Clifton's family legacy to the town - the Green, the shoreland, Lowther Gardens, the sites of Lytham Hospital and the cricket grounds at St Annes and Lytham are examples. What will our legacy be to future generations? It will all depend upon how the community responds to the endowment fund. LTT is confident that by 2012, we shall have made it. We are not having a retiring collection today, asking for pledges or expecting cheques in the post but simply hoping that you will go away to enthuse others so that, in 250 years time, the community here will be able to say that their Lytham Hall was the legacy of those who lived here at the start of the 21st century. On Friday the 13th, superstitious or not, with the help of the whole community and a bit of luck we shall do it. Today, we invite the Rt Hon Michael Jack,MP, to formally open the west wing whilst also celebrating 10 years of ownership by LTT. It is also a special year for him because he has recently completed 20 years as our MP, for which we thank him and, not the least, for his continued support to LTT and to the Hall. |
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 The West Wing is fully functional and particularly well used for weddings, with seating available for up to 100 on the ground floor  and on the first floor.  |
For further details, or to book Lytham Hall for weddings,
conferences, party visits/guided tours etc.
tel: 01253 736652,
fax: 01253 737656,
email: lytham.hall@htnw.co.uk
or write to: Lytham Hall, Ballam Road, Lytham, Lancashire, FY8 4JX
The Hall is owned by Lytham Town Trust (Reg Charity no. 1000090)
and managed by Heritage Trust for the North West (Reg Charity no. 508300)
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