Ancoats
Buildings Preservation Trust (now Heritage
Works) was established in 1995 as a registered
charity with the aim of regenerating historic buildings
in Ancoats whose cost of repair is uneconomic for
the private sector. Working with a range of partners,
ABPT is able to acquire, refurbish and resell (or
lease), often operating as a 'developer of last
resort'.
With the completion of two major projects
in the Ancoats area - St Peter's and Murrays' Mills
- and with the enouragement of English Heritage
and the support of the Charity Commission, Ancoats
BPT transformed itself into Heritage Works BPT in
January 2007, undertaking new projects further afield
than Ancoats. More information about Heritage
Works.
Ancoats, the world's first industrial
suburb, forms part of a potential World Heritage
Site and its buildings include former cotton spinning
mills, housing, community facilities and commercial
buildings of every period from the 1790s.
Following
decades of post-industrial decline, Ancoats is now
being brought back to life as an urban village.
Funding for the restoration and reuse of historic
buildings in ABPT's care was secured from sources
such as English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund,
charitable trusts and the European Union. £14m
was secured for the repair and regeneration of ABPT's
two major projects: St
Peter's and Murrays'
Mills.
In addition to overseeing the
physical regeneration of the Ancoats area, ABPT
developed an educational outreach project. 'Skills,
Schools & Stories' was an integrated programme
of activities designed to provide opportunities
for people of all ages to get involved in the restoration
of Murrays' Mills and the regeneration of Ancoats.
ABPT received revenue funding
to support its office and staff costs from charitable
trusts and public funding sources. It also received
project management fees from the Northwest Development
Agency for the Murrays' Mills and St Peter's projects.
