On completion of a series of very useful Network Academy training sessions, Spilsby Sessions House received a grant award of £500 from Heritage Trust Network, to be spent on an activity which would deliver outcomes related to the training course. This gave them an opportunity to begin a research project which will both engage wider audiences and provide material for marketing and communications.
Their building is currently closed, in preparation for the restoration works partially funded by LUF, but there is a lot of planning behind the scenes before they re-open as a functioning venue. The Sessions House was built as a courthouse, complete with cells; they want to utilise this part of the building’s history in the heritage aspect of their project. The grant from Heritage Trust Network is being used to fund an expert professional researcher in heritage, Professor Heather Hughes, to train a group of volunteers in the skills of historic research, in order to discover some of the real-life stories of the people who experienced the justice system at the court house in Spilsby in the 19th century. The resulting archive of information will be used to generate materials for use in promotional and communications activities before the building re-opens, and for display/exhibitions inside the building when operational.
