COMMUNITY takes centre stage at Town Mill
One of the cornerstones of The Town Mill’s application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2024 was the Trust Board’s desire to realise their vision to broaden the range of visitors who could benefit from this special heritage site and - having been saved by the community 25 years ago - embed even more deeply the mill as a true community asset.
The first significant step to increase this community engagement started with the removal of any financial barriers to people entering the mill. We achieved this by taking the bold decision to remove all entry fees to visit the Town Mill, and access to the heritage site has now been completely free for over a year. This has transformed the number of people engaging with the mill, its ancient stories and its long history serving the community of Lyme Regis.
The next step was to actively expand the site's use by community, hard-to-reach and disadvantaged groups who could learn & enjoy from all this special site has to offer, specifically by focusing on community engagement - we’re thrilled at the results we are reaping by extending inclusion and enjoyment of our heritage site to a vibrant range of new users and visitors to the mill through this project.
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK's Heritage – and our ability to dedicate time to a community engagement role is a core thread in re-vitalising that important connection between heritage and community here at this historic mill.
As well as expressing our appreciation to all our funders, thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to move forward with this vitally important project within the Trust’s overall vision to secure the future of the mill and embed its legacy as a vibrant community asset in the very heart of Lyme Regis.
We are delighted that this vital work is well underway; join us in celebrating our community and watch our stories unfold here over coming weeks with THE TOWN MILL DIARIES - click below to read more :
