Concept

The Whitehaven Foyer Company is a Charity established in 2012, to develop and run West Cumbria’s first Foyer. It was set up by two local organisations, Impact Housing Association and Howgill Family Centre. As local organisations they saw the need for such a facility and together have the skills and experience to make this happen.

Build

Work on site started on Monday 21st July 2014. The modern accommodation phase was completed in February 2016, with the refurbished historic building being completed on the 26th February 2017. The project was made possible due to funding from Copeland Community Fund, the Townscape Heritage Initiative, Britain’s Energy Coast, Cumbria County Council, the Homes and Communities Agency, Cumbria Community Foundation, Empty Homes funding, Francis C Scott Trust, Hadfield Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, Henry Smith Charity, Howgill Family Centre and Impact Housing.

Completion

The works to refurbish the existing building were undertaken with the aim of retaining as much of the existing features of the building as possible, and using traditional methods and materials to restore the building. Materials such as lime plaster were used for the internal and external wall finishes, local slate was used on the roof, original roof and floor timbers were retained and repaired, and new replacement items such as the windows were made to replicate the traditional sliding sash style.