Earlier this year we gave away £100,000 to community projects across the UK through our Building Better Communities competition. We recently visited Beccles Station in Suffolk, who won £5,000 of the prize fund, to see the progress of the renovation.
The Beccles station has been unused and in a very poor condition for last 45 years or so. Together, with the support from the local community, this project will help to restore the neglected building back to its former glory for local people to use and enjoy.
The building will retain some of the original features of the station, including ticket counters and a replica railway sign which has been commissioned to adorn the front of the building.
Beccles station currently has 11 rooms and 3 toilets, but the renovation work will also include a new visitor’s café. The café will offer healthy food options, and will also house a social enterprise offering; newspapers, tourist information, cycle hire, a taxi hotline, and public toilets with disabled access. Through the addition of these faculties, the station will become a hub of community activity in the local Beccles area.
As well as a café, there will be a yoga and wellbeing studio situated on the ground floor. The studio will offer classes to the community (which has already been booked up until the end of the year!) and will have two rooms available to rent with reduced rates for local community groups.
On the first floor, there will be 4 renovated offices for start- up and local businesses to rent, with use of a new kitchen which has been provided by supplier partner, Regency. Another kitchen is set to be installed in the café area in the coming months. So watch this space!
We’ll keep you updated on the build progress over the coming months, in the meantime for more information on The Beccles Station Project visit: http://becclesstation.co.uk/
