Lottery Fund boost for Gladstone’s Library

Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden has been awarded £126,729 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for a project to help young people engage with history.

The project will empower young people (aged 16-24) to explore and discuss universal Gladstonian themes of religious tolerance, human rights, and democracy, and more challenging historical and contemporary topics such as slavery, colonialism, and minority rights. 

The funds will allow Gladstone’s Library to develop and deliver a series of pilot workshops and engagement activities specially tailored for groups including high school pupils, students, and youth club members.

The focus will be on learning new things, engaging with history and heritage that is still relevant to contemporary issues, and practising how to have respectful and challenging conversations to develop and enrich learning.

The groups will also learn about Gladstone’s Library and William Gladstone – and how his views developed and changed over his lifetime and will be invited to access the Library’s collections, including historical books and archive material.

Revd Dr Andrea Russell, Warden at Gladstone’s Library said: “We are delighted to receive support from the Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players, to facilitate a new series of learning and engagement activities for young people aged 16-24.

“We want to widen the Library’s reach and use our unique collections as a starting point for conversations and learning by working with local schools, groups, and youth organisations. 

“We hope that connecting the workshops to relevant contemporary issues and concerns will lead to informed changes in ideas and to positive actions. We are very grateful to the Heritage Fund for supporting our ambition to work with young people, and we are also incredibly thankful for the continued commitment and enthusiasm of our existing visitors, friends, and donors.

“Their support is fundamental to our ongoing success and any future developments, for example a very kind legacy donation helped us to secure this project funding from the Heritage Fund. 

“Gladstone’s Library is truly a unique place to immerse yourself in the wonders of learning, research, and silent study, which is something we are totally committed to.”

With £126,729 Heritage Fund support, thanks to National Lottery players, the project at Gladstone’s Library will run for around 18 months. The Library will also conduct a series of feasibility studies working with architects, conservation officers, archivists, and suitable business and heritage consultants.

The feedback, outcomes and evaluation of this project and feasibility studies will help inform how the Library will evolve over the next five to ten years.