A CAMPAIGN to safeguard the future of the birthplace of the Brontë sisters has doubled its fundraising efforts after reaching its initial target in days.
A steering group is aiming to rescue the Brontë birthplace in Thornton, from a private sale and to establish it as a community asset.
An online crowdfunding page was set up last week with an initial £20,000 target to help towards buying the Bronte birthplace.
We reached our 🎉£20k 🎉target to raise money towards the cost of purchasing the #Brontë birthplace! We have stretched our target to £40k, please continue to share / RT and DONATE 🙏 https://t.co/80nN8S49k1
— South Square Centre (@South_Square) August 24, 2022
South Square Centre tweeted: “We reached our £20k target to raise money towards the cost of purchasing the #Brontë birthplace.
“We have stretched our target to £40k, please continue to share/RT and DONATE.”
The steering group behind the campaign says the current owner of the property would prefer for the site to be sold and moved into community ownership if funding for the sale price can be found by the end of this year.
Once the funding is secured, the group plan to open a café/small restaurant/events space downstairs and slightly expanding the site’s current café.
The rooms upstairs at the site will be decorated in the style of furnishings at the time of the Brontës.
Campaigner Steve Stanworth said: “It’s brilliant that we have reached the £20,000 target.
“We wanted to get the word out there as quickly as possible and as far as possible.
“There has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes. We are quite pleased. The steering group has been working for over a month on it.
“The key has been that people see it as a community asset.
“The donations have been quite widespread, with some coming out of the district.
“We have not got a timeline to reach the £40,000 target. We will see how it goes. The next step will be harder.
“It’s important for us to drum that message home that the Brontes were born in Thornton. It’s about putting the jigsaw pieces together with Haworth.
“We are quietly confident. It’s working really well.”
There are plans for writing workshops, activities for schools, artist commissions and residencies as well as other activities with a Brontë focus.
The steering group has previously said: “The use and refurbishment of the Brontë birthplace would add significantly to the attractiveness of Market Street to current businesses and as a place to open a new business, adding to recent ventures such as Thornton Furnishings and The Apothecary Gallery.”
Go to crowdfunder.co.uk/p/bronte-birthplace to make a donation.
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