Our Vision

A living room for the village, again

The aim is a building that is open, used and useful — not a museum behind glass.

An artist's impression of the Castlebridge Reading Rooms restored
An artist's impression of the restored building, prepared by the community. The final design will follow conservation advice.

How its use will be chosen

Anyone with an idea for the building is encouraged to come forward and pitch it. Proposals are made in person at the public meetings on Wednesday 22 July and Wednesday 26 August at 8.00pm in Castlebridge Community Centre. Please let us know in advance that you intend to present — email info@castlebridgereadingrooms.com. Proposals will be weighed against the published criteria and the terms of the trust.

The path there

A phased plan

  1. Form the community trust and re-establish clean ownership of the building.
  2. Insure the building — the step that allows everyday community use to resume.
  3. Commission structural and asbestos surveys to know exactly what is needed.
  4. Draw down heritage and community funding, matched by local contributions.
  5. Carry out phased conservation and refurbishment.
  6. Reopen, with a use and an operating model the village can sustain.

How it will be funded

A clear path to the money

Restoring a Protected Structure is paid for chiefly through heritage and community grants, not donations alone. The likely routes:

Most of these open for applications in 2027, and each asks the community to contribute a share — usually around a fifth — before the larger grant is released. That local match is why community support matters: a modest local gift helps unlock several times its value.

A natural ally

Given that the building came to the village in 1984 through the Nunns' company, by then part of the Guinness group, and that the idea for the Book of Records was born in Castlebridge, the trust will also approach Guinness and Diageo for corporate support — a fitting partnership for a building their group once gave to the village.