AN HISTORIC building that once formed part of Norton Barracks has been transformed into a community hub thanks to a £1.6 million investment.
The Worcester Norton Community Hub has been created out of the former Sergeants’ Mess which belonged to the Worcestershire Regiment.
Dedicated volunteers have spent more than four years working on the project. The grade II listed building has been revamped to include a large hall, a smaller meeting space, toilets, changing rooms, a cafe and bar and outside patio area.
An old storage room is currently being turned into a meeting space for young people. Each of the rooms has been named after a former sergeant who served with the regiment.
Wychavon District Council has backed the project through section 106 money – funding linked to planning agreements – £100,000 from Wychavon’s Community Legacy Grant scheme and another £100,000 from the council’s share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
A Big Lottery grant is supporting initial running costs, while Severn Trent Water also provided more than £80,000 to install green measures such as solar panels and electric vehicle charging points. Norton-Juxta-Kempsey Parish Council also provided funding to install wi-fi.
Major General Mark Armstrong JP, Deputy Lieutenant of Worcestershire and Gwen Parkin, whose husband, Sgt Gordon Parkin, is one of those remembered in the hub, officially opened the building on Thursday September 12.
Gwen, who still lives within the area of the old barracks, said the building brought back many happy memories, and she hoped to hire the hub for her 90th birthday party later this year.
She continued: “We had a wonderful time here. If this building could talk, it would tell some stories.
“I met him here at The Keep gates and we travelled all over the world. I had 17 different married quarters, but I always said I wanted to come back to Worcestershire.
“He definitely would have approved of what they have done here. I feel really honoured he was picked to be remembered.”
Edith Price, who was born on site and still lives locally, was also at the opening as her father, Sgt Alfred ‘Curly’ Dalloway, has a room named after him.
The final room is named after Sgt William Cubberley, who fell during the First World War in Flanders in 1917. It was only last year his remains were found and interred.
Kevin Fincher, chair of the Worcester Norton Community Interest Company, added: “A huge thank you to Wychavon, other funders, my fellow directors, volunteers and the wider community for their dedication, support and tenacity to turn what was a semi-derelict sports club into a wonderful community hub.”
