Kettering bingo hall project misses out on Government funding - but 'remarkable' women behind plan vow to bid again

A project to transform Kettering’s old bingo hall has missed out on Government funding – but the women behind the plan say they’ll bid again.

Beccy Hurrell and Lindsey Atkins want to turn the former Gala Bingo site in High Street into a gig venue with a cafe, shops, work spaces and more.

Through their community interest company, BHVA Axis Hub CIC, they asked for £2m from the Government’s community ownership fund, which helps groups take on at-risk assets.

In the most recent round of funding they were unsuccessful – but they’re already working on how to improve their bid so they can resubmit it.

Beccy said: “Unfortunately we weren’t successful this time, but we’ve received feedback and are intending to resubmit. It hasn’t dampened our spirit and resolve for it.

"We are working with the development support team to ensure a positive outcome. One of the challenges we have is that we need to show secured match-funding, even if it’s just pledges.

"This is going to be our focus over the next couple of weeks.”

Beccy and Lindsey’s £5m plan for the building hopes to see it become a safe space where people can grow and flourish.

Their overall plans include a space for gigs and performances, a community cafe that turns into a bar in the evening, soft play, shops and spaces for workshops and businesses, as well as holding clinics to help people in areas including health, employment and law.

They say the idea is that it would pay for itself with people paying to use the space.

Last month Kettering MP Philip Hollobone (Con) used a debate in Westminster Hall to plead with the Government to put cash towards the project, which he said would transform the town centre.

And he hopes that, after being encouraged to bid again, that Beccy and Lindsey are successful next time. There are four bidding windows per financial year, with the next closing at the end of January.

Mr Hollobone said: “I was really pleased to be able to highlight the merits of Beccy and Lindsey’s initiative in a special Parliamentary debate on December 13 and I have already lobbied the Local Government Minister in the past week as to how best to bid again.

"Beccy and Lindsey are quite simply remarkable individuals; I am not sure I have ever come across people with more enthusiasm, entrepreneurial spirit or dedication to a cause.

"Were Beccy and Lindsey’s bid to be successful, it would be simply transformative for Kettering town centre and I urge all local people to get behind it.”

Built on a former drapery store, the site was opened as Regal Cinema on Boxing Day in 1936 by Earl Spencer.

In 1947 it was taken over by Granada Theatres and hosted several concerts, including The Who and The Rolling Stones, before closing in 1974 and being taken over by Gala Bingo who closed it in 2018.

It made headlines around the world in June 2019 when police found a full house of 2,000 cannabis plants there, potentially worth almost £3m in value. The Kettering Town Centre Partnership (KTCP) then had it listed as an asset of community value, giving groups the chance to put together a bid if it ever went on the market.

In January 2023 its owners notified council bosses of their intention to sell it, with BHVA Axis Hub CIC applying to trigger the moratorium. And within a year Beccy and Lindsey have formulated a phased plan which would see full potential realised by 2028-29.