The Reader Organisation could benefit from a £2.1 million funding boost to deliver an International Centre for Reading at the historic Calderstones Mansion House.

Based in Calderstones Park, the ‘Reader at Calderstones’ project will restore the Grade II-listed mansion house, which it took over from Liverpool City Council in 2013.

Having secured £1.99m in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund last year the charity is now hoping to secure further funding from the city council.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, says: “We are absolutely determined to make sure that where at all possible they are retained and improved and can be enjoyed by local people, and that is exactly what is happening here.

“The Reader have come up with a really exciting and innovative project for Calderstones which will secure the future of the historic Mansion House.

“They do the most incredible educational work and the International Centre for Reading will be a major attraction at the heart of one of our most beautiful parks.”

The scheme will deliver a heritage room, four reading rooms and a new café bistro, as well as the restoration of Neolithic monoliths known as the Calderstones.

The project is expected to attract up to 450,000 visitors to the centre within three years of completion.

Dr Jane Davis, founder and director of The Reader, says: “We’re delighted with the support we are receiving from Liverpool City Council and other funding partners including the Heritage Lottery Fund. It will allow us to grasp this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create something truly special at Calderstones.

“We’ve had visitors from all over the world including South Korea, Australia, Germany and Scandinavia, completed work on our Storybarn offering a space for children in Merseyside to come and fall in love with reading for pleasure; and our outreach projects are also reaching people who are socially isolated or living with mental health conditions in order to build stronger communities.”

The report will be considered by the cabinet on 18 March.

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