Edwardian heritage treasure Bramley Baths has raised a massive £374,360 with 531 investors in their first Community Share offer.
Over the course of the last 6 months, the community of Bramley, Leeds and beyond has rallied together once again to support and preserve their Grade II listed building, reaching and surpassing their target on Friday 28th of February.
The Baths have operated as a fully functional health, wellbeing and education facility for over 120 years and although preserving this a heritage treasure for future generations is a privilege, it can come with its challenges. Only last year, they were forced to make essential repairs to the west gable end. Total costs were in the region of £80,000, which came out of the Baths own reserves. Having identified other essential works to be carried out, one of the most pressing was repair and restoration of the roof. Bramley Baths decided that instead of traditional methods of fundraising they would launch their first Community Share Offer, which would enable people and organisations to invest in the Baths, and in return pay interest on investments, as a way of giving back to their community and supporters.
The funds will enable them in the short term to repair and restore parts of the roof and also allow them to install more energy efficient measures, overall having a positive impact on their long-term sustainability.
Jennie Willetts, Business Development Manager at the Baths said: “It has been a privilege to be part of such an amazing campaign and to see first-hand the amount of support the Baths has received is truly remarkable – especially in a time of financial hardship for many. It’s a true testament to the place the Baths holds in peoples own stories and hearts”
CEO David Wilford said: “It’s fantastic! We, our team, community and supporters have made this campaign such a huge success and we couldn’t have done it without each and every single investor- Thank you!”
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