Accrington Market Chambers

What if a market hall could become a living, breathing hub for local stories, creativity and community life?

That’s the exciting question at the heart of Hyndburn Borough Council’s bold reimagining of the historic Accrington Market Chambers building, now in pilot phase thanks to support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

This week, fellow team members Gabi Spangenthal and Sherry Dobbin kicked off the first of our planned site visits – and I’m looking forward to joining them on the ground soon as we roll out the community engagement activity. (Shout out to our fourth team member, Hamdee Yusuf too!)

This week, Gabi and Sherry kicked off the first of our planned site visits – and I’ll be joining soon to add my own layer of place-based insight. For me, there’s no substitute for being in a place – walking its streets, hearing its rhythms, and understanding the unspoken dynamics that shape how people live, gather and imagine their future.

I’m thrilled to be contributing to this project through community engagement strategy and visitor profiling – helping shape an interpretation plan that honours Accrington’s past while creating space for new narratives to emerge.

Here’s to making space for stories, creativity and connection in the heart of the town.