The new Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth, Councillor Bhim Saru has selected the Chilvers Coton Centre Trust as the recipient of the 2025-2026 Mayor’s Appeal.
Speaking on a visit to the Centre the Mayor said “As Mayor, I chose Chilvers Coton Heritage Centre for my Mayor’s Appeal 2025 to 2026 because it holds nearly 300 years of Nuneaton’s history. Once a school for the town’s poorest children, it is deeply connected to the world of George Eliot, and now proudly serves all communities as a welcoming space for events and gatherings.”

“For me, supporting the Heritage Centre means preserving Nuneaton’s story for our future generations.”

Chairman of the Chilvers Coton Centre Trust, Mr John Burton spoke of his deep gratitude to the Mayor saying, “We are thrilled to be able to work with the Mayor to enhance what is already a very popular venue as a heritage centre and as a community centre.

“We cater for our diverse communities and provide a meeting space for Slimming World, Yoga, Drums, Nuneaton Writing Circle, Nuneaton Bird watchers, Nuneaton Historical Association, Treacle Tarts WI, Escape Art, Nuneaton Festival of Arts, the George Eliot Fellowship, Nuneaton Learning Centre, the Anker Morris Men, Craft Fayres, Book Sales and afternoon teas.

“There are also many more occasional groups and a large number of social groups from the Muslim and Nepalese communities, as well as visits from about 25 schools every year to our Victorian Schoolroom Experience.”

“All these regular visitors, as well as visitors to our displays in the Heritage Centre, will be delighted that the Mayor is putting his confidence in what we do.’’  John went on to say,”For many years the 18th century Grade II listed building has suffered from deterioration to the stonework and roof and is now at the stage where action must be taken.  We are anticipating a cost in excess of £500,000 just for the stonework and intend to apply for heritage lottery funding.  The fact that the Mayor has chosen us for his appeal will, we trust, impress the heritage lottery and the money raised by the appeal will be used for match funding. The building is used by many regular groups throughout the week, and lots of ‘one offs’, though we try to keep Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings free for visitors. None of the Trustees or Volunteers take any form of payment for their work so all the monies raised will go into the appeal.”

Any and all donations will be gratefully received. No amount is too small. We try our best to keep the centre warm and leak proof, but it is becoming more and more of a challenge.  We hope to use money raised by the Mayor’s Appeal as match funding for a Heritage Lottery bid.  To repair the stonework, fix the roof, re-do the windows and other interior and exterior work we estimate will cost in the region of 1.4 million.  It’s unlikely we’ll get that much in one go so we have a ‘wish list’ of priorities having already consulted with and paid for an indepth survey by a company of professional architectural surveyors.  

Thank you for your donation, it will help preserve one of Nuneaton’s oldest and important buildings for future communities and visitors.