Woodbrooke building handed over
'The historic site closed on 31 October 2023 and became the responsibility of Bournville Village Trust (BVT).'
There was sad news in March when, after 120 years of providing Quaker fellowship and ministry, the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre announced that it was leaving its building.
The historic site closed on 31 October 2023 and became the responsibility of Bournville Village Trust (BVT). Friends had been operating at the site since it was founded in 1903 by George Cadbury and John Wilhelm Rowntree.
In a long and frank statement, Woodbrooke trustees said: ‘Our intention is to allow Woodbrooke to focus on its founding purpose of fostering the vital ministry of Friends.’
Sandra Berry, director of Woodbrooke, told the Friend that the spirit of the centre would continue with a vital programme of in-person learning, in addition to its online courses. A new in-person programme called ‘Woodbrooke Places’ will soon launch, while the ‘Woodbrooke Where You Are’ events will continue.
Jon Martin, head of communications, told the Friend. ‘We are also in conversation with other venues around the country about the possibility of hosting in-person and residential events.’
Significant parts of Woodbrooke’s Library collections would be transferred to the University of Birmingham Special Collections on a permanent loan basis.
The statement spelled out the slow, difficult process of recognising the challenges of dwindling numbers and high-maintenance costs facing the Grade 2-listed building, greatly compounded by the Covid pandemic. It would cost more than £6 million to bring the buildings up to ‘a good, environmentally-sustainable, accessible standard’.
Pete Richmond, chief executive of BVT, pledged to recognise the site’s ‘importance to the Bournville and Quaker communities, its heritage, and the role it has played in the wider Quaker landscape in Birmingham’.
Friends lamented the closure, many sharing memories for an upcoming anthology, while others reflected on embracing the need for change.
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