Located in a diverse community in Greater Manchester, Stretford Public Hall has a rich history as a public building. But ten years ago, its future was uncertain. Having fallen into disrepair as a civic theatre, Trafford Council converted the space into offices. By 2014, the hall was deemed surplus to the council’s requirements and was put up for sale. This is when Friends of Stretford Public Hall came together to bring the hall back to public use.
With the help of a Power to Change grant and match funding, the team launched a successful community share offer. Simon Borkin, now Chair of the Board at Friends of Public Stretford Hall, helped coordinate the original share offer, which he notes “was a successful and powerful way to build community-backing and investment.”
Over 800 local people invested in the hall and helped raise over £256,000, enabling Friends of Stretford Public Hall to bring it into community hands and restore its historic ballroom to create a vibrant community hub.
Since then, Stretford Public Hall has developed a diverse offer to the community: co-working space, artist studios, and rooms for hire, including for parties and weddings. This variety of revenue streams has increased the financial sustainability of the hall, allowing Friends of Stretford Public Hall to run affordable events and community services. Over the past 12 months, the hall has hosted over 1,100 different community activities and been used by over 30,000 people.
Delivering for the community
Stretford Public Hall has worked closely with the local authority, Trafford Council, to deliver services for the community. This dates back to Covid-19, when the hall served as a community hub. With the help of lots of volunteers, the team stepped in to host a foodbank, run a phone line to provide information on vital services, and deliver shopping and prescriptions to residents who were shielding.
Hall Manager Kate McGeevor credits their response as raising the profile of the organisation: “It really cemented us as an organisation that the council could work with and trust to respond quickly and innovatively.”
The resulting community hub network was such a success that Trafford Council has continued to fund it annually. Friends of Stretford Public Hall continue to serve the diverse community around Trafford and respond to local issues, from helping connect and house Ukrainian refugees to working with the council to deliver the Trafford Poverty Truth Commission.
Bringing the community into regeneration activities
In 2020, Trafford Council was awarded over £17 million from the Future High Street Fund to redevelop Stretford’s high street. Stretford Public Hall was named in the council application as a core community asset as part of their future vision for Stretford town centre.
The funding kickstarted a new wave of town centre regeneration planning in Stretford. Trafford Council entered into a joint venture with Manchester-based property developer Bruntwood to create a new destination space in the town centre. As part of this, the joint venture purchased nearby Stretford Mall, a struggling retail space previously owned by a global investment firm.
At the same time, Friends of Stretford Public Hall applied to Power to Change’s Community Improvement District pilot. This provided a mechanism to explore how the community could have more of a say over the town centre regeneration plans.
The concept was new for all parties involved. More than a Business Improvement District, Simon and Kate sought to build relationships between the council and developer, local businesses and community organisations. The goal was to bring more community perspectives and local business input into the town centre regeneration process.
Working towards a shared vision
The resulting Stretford Town Centre Forum began meeting in 2023. Together, they discussed some of the difficulties with the ongoing regeneration efforts, which had left the city centre feeling empty. Construction delays and complicated building works made the town centre difficult to navigate, lowering footfall for surrounding businesses and creating a sense of disillusionment.
But once relationships started to form, the Town Centre Forum needed a shared goal to work on.
UK Shared Prosperity Funding created an opportunity for the group to work together on a plan to celebrate their town centre. The aim was to create a new buzz in Stretford. Friends of Stretford Public Hall worked with the Town Centre Forum to deliver the first Stretfest, a neighbourhood-wide festival involving local businesses, community spaces and groups from across Stretford.
The aim was to draw excitement and visitors into Stretford town centre. It resulted in some of the best days trading and highest visitor numbers ever for local businesses.
“The town centre has been in this transitionary period. Tenants have been vacated. There’s lots of empty spaces. But it’s been interesting, that we’ve been able to populate them with some meaningful community-led activity that has showcased alternatives for how town centres can function.” – Simon Borkin, Friends of Stretford Public Hall
A second Stretfest, held in March 2025, coincided with Friends of Stretford Public Hall’s 10-year anniversary. Stretfest attracted 4,000 people to the public hall and 6,000 to the mall, boosting local businesses.
What’s worked – and what hasn’t
By all accounts, the Town Centre Forum events were a resounding success, increasing footfall and creating a new sense of pride in Stretford. But despite some funding via the council, they were delivered at a cost of many volunteer hours by a small number of staff and volunteers. And unlike a Business Improvement District, the Town Centre Forum does not have the ability to raise money for future events through a levy.
The Forum has also struggled at times to create a mechanism for communities to meaningfully influence the course of the regeneration project. While all parties are represented, those attending do not always have the power to make decisions or approve ideas.
With the first phase of the town centre reopening planned for summer 2025, Simon raised questions about the impact of the regeneration plans on the local community: “The challenge is, how do we safeguard activities and uses that create large social impacts but are less commercially viable? How do you reconcile it with a town centre redevelopment that is naturally predicated on financial return?”
Protecting community spaces and activities alongside commercial development and profitability may prove difficult in the coming years. Part of Stretford’s regeneration plans also include driving residential growth through 800 new homes. While positive for increasing footfall in the town centre, there’s a risk that housing for existing community members becomes less affordable. The creation of a new town centre that welcomes and engages the owners of these new homes, so they too take an active interest in their town, is something which the Town Centre Forum is keen to focus on in the future.
What next for Stretford?
Despite these challenges, Simon, Kate and the team are committed to engaging in the future of Stretford town centre. They’ve set their eyes on restoring the public hall’s basement, which would create a new entrance to the hall from the town centre. It would also provide scope to host late night activities, which are currently lacking in Stretford town centre.
The team are also exploring bringing more privately owned spaces into community ownership, such as a nearby pub and cinema.
Simon sees a future for Stretford where everyone works together to create a thriving local economy:
“In 10 years, we’d like to see a thriving town centre characterised by a unique ecosystem of local businesses, community groups and stakeholders working together collaboratively. And where everyone recognises that community-led development means a town centre that meets the needs of everyone that lives there.”
