Halle Orchestra wins funding to make Ancoats church home

By Deborah Linton

 Manchester's Halle Orchestra will be able to fulfil its dream of turning an historic church into a second home after winning almost £1m grant money.
The symphony orchestra will bring St Peter’s Church, in Ancoats, back to life as a rehearsal and small scale performance space after securing two cash awards.
Halle bosses have been handed £702,000 from Viridor Credits, which supports community and heritage projects.
It comes within days of confirmation of a £150,000 grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation for charitable organisations.
The cash means the Halle can begin work planning the transformation of St Peter’s, a pretty 19th century church in the heart of Ancoats.
It will provide the orchestra with a permanent rehearsal space for the first time in its 153-year history and will also act as a base for the Halle Choir, Youth Orchestra, Youth Choir and Children’s Choir as well as education and community work.
Grade two listed St Peter’s sits on the newly developed Cutting Room public square – the centrepiece of Ancoats’ regeneration.
The exterior, which has already been painstakingly restored, will be preserved when redevelopment gets underway.
The symphony orchestra is based at Bridgewater Hall but currently rehearses at a number of venues around the city. It has been looking for a permanent site for some time.
Halle chief executive, John Summers, said: "This is brilliant news, both for the Hallé and the sleeping beauty that is Ancoats.
"We are delighted to be able to focus our education and community work in an area which played such a central role in Manchester’s emergence as a city of world significance. We are hugely grateful to both Viridor Credits and the Garfield Weston Foundation for giving us such an excellent start to our fundraising campaign."
Viridor, which puts money from landfill tax back into the community, has allocated the cash as part of its tenth anniversary awards.
General manager Lisa Nelson said: "We were inundated with entries for our tenth anniversary commemorative awards but the Hallé really stood out to us.
"Not only will it help to restore the impressive St Peter’s Church for everyone to enjoy, but it will also help to provide valuable space for the prestigious Hallé Orchestra, helping to regenerate this area of Manchester."
Coun Jim Battle, deputy leader of Manchester council, added: "The Hallé is very much in tune with our aspirations for the regeneration of east Manchester.
"The presence of such a world-renowned cultural institution in the heart of Ancoats, especially bringing this building back to life as the base for its community and education programmes, is brilliant news for the area and the city as a whole."