Community Heritage in England

Halifax Opportunities Trust (HOT), a thriving community trust based in west Halifax, is progressing with an ambitious regeneration project for Queens Road Neighbourhood Centre. Following the in-principle agreement of a Community Asset Transfer from the council, the Trust’s rejuvenation of the Grade-II listed landmark will transform it into a neighbourhood hub filled with community activity.

The Trust has been funded by:

• Architectural Heritage Fund
• UK Shared Prosperity Fund
• Barclays’ 100×100 Community Aid Fund

Originally built as a board school in the 1870s and subsequently used as an art and technical college, Queens Road Neighbourhood Centre in Park Ward became a community centre in the 1970s. Yet, by its 150th anniversary in 2024, the building was closed to the public and dilapidated. Now, HOT aims to honour the space’s creative and community-focused past by regenerating it as a vital community hub. Re-establishing this important ‘third space’ will have a major local impact for Park Ward, with plans including a range of social support services, rooms for hire, creative workshops, leisure and green space for residents, and workspaces for HOT’s enterprising businesses.

Applying for a Community Asset Transfer from Calderdale Council in 2022, HOT was successful in their 2023 business case to lease Queens Road Neighbourhood Centre and is now planning the handover and development of the building, dependent on securing significant restoration funding. HOT’s charitable aims are all centred on improving local people’s lives via employment support, learning opportunities, social groups, family support and running two local business centres. HOT’s ownership of Queens Road Centre will increase employment opportunities for Park Ward, providing an extra boost to Halifax’s local economy.

As part of the project to bring the Queens Road Centre back into use, HOT will work with local volunteers to collate local stories, photos and memorabilia to show how the centre has been at the heart of the neighbourhood for 150 years, including as a college, a wedding venue, a base for social groups, and a school. Engaging Park Ward residents with their local history will create a tangible sense of communal ownership and civic pride, while HOT aims to ultimately secure funding to restore the building.

Educating children from local mill communities in Halifax, Queens Road Neighbourhood Centre was one of the first Board Schools built in England. Founded in 1874, this iconic Gothic-style building was designed by Horsfall, Wardle & Patchett, a local Victorian architecture and surveyance firm. Following its role as a centre for education from the 1870s to 1970s, the building has played an important role in Park Ward as a community centre, hosting weddings, training courses, a youth centre until 2020, and even a successful female-only gym and health centre.

Queens Road Neighbourhood Centre’s history of community, creativity, and education matches the values of social enterprise charity, HOT. Established in 2000, HOT works across west Halifax and wider areas of Calderdale to provide residents with social and economic support. Its wide range of objectives includes reducing unemployment through its training and employment hub, apprenticeships for local young people, providing space for local businesses, tutoring new arrivals to the UK in English for Speakers of Other Languages qualifications, and providing support to parents and children in family hubs across the borough.