AHF Grants Support for Community Arts Venue in Vacant High Street Building

On the north side of Stokesley’s bustling high street sits Number 42 – an unoccupied 18th-century, Grade II*-listed building. A plaque records it as the home of the first medical officer of the district, William Yeoman. In more recent years, it has also served as council offices and a bank but, following Barclays’ departure from the property five years ago, it is currently vacant and inaccessible to the public.

Stokesley, located south of Middlesborough in North Yorkshire, has a lack of cultural spaces. This is something which Crash Bang Wallop Youth Theatre now seeks to address by converting the vacant Number 42 High Street into Yeoman Arts Centre, an exciting new community arts venue for the town. Through this project, the charity, which provides professional and affordable performing arts training to young people, aims to establish a welcoming and inclusive environment from which the local community can develop a lifelong love of the arts. Current plans include creating a theatre/cinema, a café, art gallery space for local artists and photographers, and studio spaces for classes and workshops.

At its latest grants meeting, the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) awarded Crash Bang Wallop Youth Theatre a Project Viability Grant to undertake a feasibility study and explore plans for taking on the ownership and development of the building. The grant was one of 11 awarded to projects across England and Scotland, totalling £89,211. It will complement existing business planning work funded by North Yorkshire County Council through the Shared Prosperity Fund.

Dan Brookes from Crash Bang Wallop Youth Theatre, said: “Crash Bang Wallop are really excited and thankful to have received funding and positive feedback from AHF. We want to see the community welcomed back into this beautiful space, breathing life back into what was once an integral building to life in Stokesley.

“We are really excited at the prospect of offering an Arts Centre and Community Hub to residents of Stokesley and the surrounding area.

“We are now pressing ahead with our Feasibility Study, and hope to progress to the next stages of our project in the new year."