Community’s appeal to save Louth’s RBL building

Members of the campaign group trying to save Louth's Royal British Legion building. Photo:

Louth’s Royal British Legion building, located in Northgate, was built in 1863, and was first used as a Church of England Free Evening School until 1885, when it became a drill hall until 1910.

After that, it was run as a cinema until around 1946 until the RBL took it on for use as a local headquarters.

But now the building has been closed and taken back by the RBL’s headquarters and, as only two of the rooms inside – the kitchen and main hall – are in use, building work is needed to make the building fit for future use.

A group of people have now come together to try to preserve the hall as a community asset for the people of Louth.

The appeal is being led by local man James Irvine, who set up a new Facebook page to spread the word about their new campaign and encourage people to sign the petition set up to rally support, which has seen nearly 200 signatures amassed so far.

“We are at the start of a long process looking for grant funding and community assets application and a lot of hurdles to face,” James said. “We want to turn this into a community hall, which will be a challenge as, over time, the hall has become mothballed and now only two rooms in the building are usable.

“Our hope is that more people want to bring it back into the community as an asset.”

James confirmed that the group plans to apply for Leveling Up funding, but this in itself will be a challenge as these applications stand a better chance of success if it can be shown that the building will be for community use.

James added: “To make something like this work, we need the building to be making money every hour it’s open.

"For example, renting the rooms out to individuals or services who offer therapy or well-being sessions, or maybe a community cafe to generate income.”

An RBL spokesperson said: “The property is currently closed and is being assessed while an ongoing process is being conducted in accordance with the Charities Act legislation.”

To sign the petition and for more information, visit www.savelouthlegion.org.uk/