Published by the Parish of Boston.
On Tuesday, 12th September 2023, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, visited the Parish of Boston to tour St Botolph’s Church, meet some of our dedicated volunteers, see the progress made with the renovation of our historic library and to officially open the Blenkin Memorial Hall. As patron of the Boston Stump Restoration & Development Appeal, Her Royal Highness was able to see the impact that the funding from the trust and other partners has achieved in enabling the restoration of these spaces to enable broader community engagement and the preservation of historic fabric.
An investment of £340,000 in the Parish Library and £1,146,000 in the Blenkin Memorial Hall, a total of £1,486,000, has preserved and transformed both spaces. The Boston Town Deal Board have contributed £1,040,000 towards the combined project.
Her Royal Highness was introduced to the team behind the projects, who showcased how we are better able to meet community needs and, additionally, received a tour of our new Song School. The Princess Royal met some of the hard-working volunteers who enable the parish to welcome 1,000’s of visitors each year and inspected the Time Capsule, which contains items placed in it by Her Royal Highness on her last visit. The Time Capsule is a legacy of our previous £2.7million Heritage Lottery Funded Project, A Passion for People.
Whilst visiting, Her Royal Highness was given an update on our Big Lego Build project, which has been funded by the Restoration Trust and serves as a fundraiser for our Children & Community work. The Princess Royal has seen the progress made and enjoys observing the changes to the model on each visit.
Finally, the Princess was given a full tour of our new community space, which has been created through the renovation of the Blenkin Memorial Hall. The space now includes staff offices, hireable office space for small businesses or meeting space, a Song School and a hall. Her Royal Highness met teenage members of our B-16 choir and was introduced to members of the Town Deal Board, who have very generously given a significant grant towards the cost of renovations. The Princess Royal was invited to unveil a plaque to officially open our new multi-use, community-focused space.
The provision of humidity and temperature control in the library to protect the historic books within and the fact that the Blenkin has a much-reduced environmental impact due to the air source (gas-free) heating and high-efficiency infra-red panels are things that add to the special nature of the projects and also link in with an awareness that most people have about environmental impact and the importance of minimising our use of energy in our spaces.
It is always a great delight to welcome Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, to St Botolph’s to show the work we are doing to work with our community whilst protecting our historical and valuable buildings. Her Royal Highness has always taken a keen interest in the work we do as Patron of The Boston Stump Restoration & Development Appeal and we are grateful for her support.
Revd Jane Robertson Associate Rector of the Parish of Boston
