Heritage group gets big boost in £6m scheme to rescue historical site

A heritage group fighting to save a piece of Manchester's Industrial Revolution history has received a massive boost.

The Ancoats Dispensary Trust is hoping to rescue and restore the Grade II-listed building they are named after in Manchester in a scheme costing £6m.

Campaigners hope to transform the site into a health and wellbeing community hub in the heart of Ancoats.

Now, the group has received a grant of £300,000 from the community business charity Power to Change.

The award is an exciting development in the Trust’s journey to raise the £1.1m in match- funding it needs to unlock a further £5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund to get the project underway.

Trevor MacFarlane, Chair of Ancoats Dispensary Trust said: ''Ancoats is where the industrial revolution is said to have started and the role the Dispensary played in providing healthcare to an urban population, decades before the NHS, will be reflected in its new 21st century use as a place for communities to come together to take charge of their health and wellbeing.''