In May, the East Vale & Abingdon branch’s efforts were rewarded when the group received a £500 grant from Wantage Town Council for much-needed renovation work on the Sack House, the Trust’s small museum in Wantage.

Wantage Town Council has a pot of funding available to support local community-based projects.  Val Scatchard of the East Vale & Abingdon branch said: “We were encouraged to apply for the grant by several local councillors who are sympathetic to the aims of the Trust – especially the East Vale branch.  In fact, they were instrumental in the Trust acquiring the Sack House about 15 years ago when local housing development threatened it with demolition”.

Val continued: “We will use the grant to buy materials for the renovation and carry out most of the work ourselves.  It’s essential to keep the building in a good state of repair and improve the visitor experience.  It will get us more local support and attract new volunteers - if we had more ‘clean boots’ volunteers we could increase the museum’s opening hours.  Our goal is to raise awareness of the Wilts & Berks Canal – it’s surprising how many local people are unaware of its existence”.

The Sack House, on Mill Street in Wantage, is open from May to September on the last Saturday of the month, from 10.00am to 2.00pm. 

You can also visit the Sack House as part of the annual Wantage Dickensian evening on the first Friday in December from 6.00pm to 9.00pm.

For more information, contact valerie@scatchard.net or david.craske@hotmail.co.uk