- THE ARMSTRONG HALL TRUST CHARITY NUMBER 272883 PRESS RELEASE 26.07.24
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Date Posted: Mon, 29 Jul 2024
The Armstrong Hall Trust are happy to announce that following a year long options appraisal, it has made a decision to facilitate the refurbishment and renewal of the existing Armstrong Hall & Cossham Hall site.
The ‘Option C’ involves three phases of work to reinstate the town’s main arts asset as quickly as possible. The trust felt that against ‘Option T’, which was to create a brand new theatre space to the side of Turnberries, this was the right option for the town given the current economic climate.
The rigorous options appraisal over the last year, which involved both public & user group consultations, alongside inviting user groups in to the process has been challenging, emotive & complicated throughout. Thanks must go to Danny Bonnett for being the brains behind this process & keeping it on track.
At the outset, following local elections in May 2023, a new Trust not only needed to be brought up to speed on the work done previously but plan ahead for a much different ‘post-Covid’ world. This process involved various teams bringing previous professional services work up to date and also exploring new possibilities that may be available.
We are confident that the chosen option will provide the best facility for the town, in the shortest space of time.
The next step involves the trust completing due diligence on ‘Option C’, ensuring that it will not only be affordable but comply with modern legislation, be fully accessible and have appropriate safeguarding facilities and procedures in place.
Once this due diligence is complete, our hope is to sign a lease with a user group led charitable organisation who can take the facility to new heights.
We are fortunate to have been promised a generous donation to the tune of £350,000 to help facilitate this phase of work. This money, alongside previously raised donations & the sale of a small trust asset means that we are in a good place to bring the tired building back in to community use.
We remain confident that a Turnberries based theatre would have been a viable facility for the town and it will remain a strong ‘plan B’ if the next few months do not go as hoped.
As chair, I would like to thank not only the user group representatives involved in the process but the trust members for their hard work. As a Town Councillor, you immediately become an Armstrong Hall Trust member, sometimes without a great deal of previous knowledge. The hundreds of hours they have given to this role over the last year should not go unnoticed and deserve great thanks.
We look forward to re-instating a much missed arts facility in the town as quickly and as effectively as possible.
James Murray Chair Armstrong Hall trust
- Armstrong Hall Public Meeting 19 July 2024
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Date Posted: Mon, 22 Jul 2024
Hello Everyone
Many thanks to all who showed an interest. 123 people managed to attend, but I know many couldn’t.
Here is the link to the information on the Trust website:
Options appraisal (19th July 2024) – Armstrong Hall Trust
Mayor James Murray chaired the meeting. He is now the Chair of the Trust.
Firstly, he appealed for ideas to help groups find short-term accommodation, so please get back to him on armstronghalltrust@gmail.com with any ideas. He indicated that the Trust will be able to help such groups. (It’s a shame that this offer comes so many years after the large groups encountered a problem, but better late than never.)
Then three presentations followed. Cllr John Reynolds summarised Option A very clearly, indicating that the £10m needed to undertake a radical rebuild of the Complex was unattainable in the present economic climate. He also pointed out that the disruption in terms of noise and dust would be a problem for neighbours. (It wasn’t mentioned in any other context, but this would equally apply if the site is sold.)
I presented Option C, which is to refurbish the Complex to a compliant level, potentially achievable in 7 months, focusing initially on the Cossham Hall to permit a new community enterprise to start functioning as soon as possible, while work is in progress on recovering the Main Hall. All this would be in advance of a thorough review of the operation within 2-3 years, to consider further spend going forward. I was also able to provide the “hot off the press” news that Maggie and Stephen Lansdown, with their local upbringing, are not only keen to support the project once viability can be proved, but also happy to donate £350k for the restoration work, to get the operation restarted as soon as possible. Maggie’s mother, Betty Brock, lived latterly in Tanners Court, and this gift would be made in her memory.
This should remove a major doubt from the Trustee’s thinking. Throughout the last 4 years, some Councillors have considered that no more money should be spent on an ageing hall. Other people are of the opinion that environmental factors point towards the benefits of retaining and developing existing structures wherever possible.
Option T3, only published 3 days before the meeting, due to necessary legal restrictions, provided an interesting plan which for around £2m would build a 300-seater auditorium (matching the main Armstrong Hall but excluding the Cossham Hall) on the side car park adjacent to Turnberries, enabling the main hall to become a stage area. Cllr Fiona Deas made the presentation. It’s an interesting back-up plan (my view), but raises immediate concerns about flexibility, capacity, ownership, management and loss of the town’s asset.
The final presentation was from Cllr Danny Bonnett, a project manager in the field of wind turbines. He showed slides explaining the scoring system the Trustee will be referencing. Unfortunately, it revealed certain fundamental errors in understanding of the Option C Dossier, confirming our fears that there had been insufficient engagement in the Option C proposal, evidenced by barely any questioning over the last several months.
The Q and A session that followed could easily have gone on for much, much longer. At one point, an audience member asked for a show of hands. An estimated 95% preferred Option C, whereas no hands at all went up for Option T3.
PLEASE NOTE: JAMES IS ADAMANT THAT A DECISION WILL BE MADE THIS THURSDAY 25TH JULY AT THE TRUSTEE’S MONTHLY MEETING.
Some of us have objected very strongly that this is an insufficient time to consult the public and permit proper feedback.
Another widely held doubt is that the Charity Commission would approve of a plan to sell the asset while there is another option on the table.
The Trustees welcome comments over the remaining few days, so do please write with your thoughts and opinions, whatever they may be, to armstronghalltrust@gmail.com. If you choose to copy or blind-copy me in it will help me know how you are feeling.
If you know people who have no internet access, we will try to get a copy of the documents into the library today.
Phew! What an evening!
Best wishes,
Jill
- Armstrong Hall
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Date Posted: Wed, 13 Dec 2023
You can see the latest information about the Armstrong Hall here. For more information, see: https://armstronghalltrust.co.uk/
- Armstrong Hall Trust letter to interest groups
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Date Posted: Wed, 28 Jun 2023
Attachment: 
- Open Letter regarding the Armstrong Hall
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Date Posted: Fri, 14 Apr 2023
Here is an urgent message from Geoff Kitchen, secretary of Thornbury Musical Theatre Group:
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We/I am involved in a fresh initiative to put pressure on our newly elected representatives when they take office, concerning reopening the Armstrong Hall. The idea is for an open letter to be delivered with the following wording:
As many names as possible are being collected from all parts of the Thornbury community to populate the list of ‘…the undersigned…’ and I/we would very much welcome your confirmation that you would like to be included.“We the undersigned call upon Thornbury Town Council and representatives of the Armstrong Hall Trust to work together to solve the acute problem of the very large hole left in the cultural life of Thornbury caused by the closure of the Armstrong Hall Complex in 2020. Our rapidly growing community is much the poorer for the lack of this facility; and the creative forces that have long existed in the Thornbury population are in danger of fading away.
A viability study has shown that the Armstrong Hall Complex can be run successfully with a different management structure and outward looking approach. It is not too late to bring the Complex back to life, but this is now extremely urgent.
The previous Town Council as sole Trustee showed a complete lack of ambition and demonstrated a narrow and secretive approach towards the issue, and we call upon you as a new group of individuals to do much better.”
In order to be included please do not reply to this email but instead write, by 30th April, to secretary@tmtg.org.uk where the larger part of this fresh initiative is being managed. When writing please use the subject heading ARMSTRONG HALL OPEN LETTER and state how your name should appear along with any description you think would be helpful.
Local press and media will be approached to carry the completed open letter. Social media will also be used to spread the word.
On a related issue please keep your eye on the AHAA Facebook page as we hope to publish information on Candidates’ attitude towards reopening the Armstrong Hall which may usefully influence your voting choice.
Thank you for your continuing support and I hope you will be able to support this fresh initiative.
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I have put my signature to it on behalf of TCS. It would be great if you could send an email to Geoff Kitchen secretary@tmtg.org.uk adding your own support and pass the message on to other organisations and individuals with an interest.
Attachment: 
For more information, see: https://ahaathornbury.co.uk/
