SKIPTON Town Hall is marking the 25th birthday of the National Lottery with a competition to show lottery players a behind the scenes look at how their money is transforming the historic venue, together with a free lunch at Wildwood Restaurant.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund gave a grant of £1.5 million to Craven District Council, which is part-funding the ambitious plans to redevelop the town hall, due to be completed next spring.

And, to mark the occasion of the first ever national lottery draw, on November 19, 1994, the council is offering lottery players the chance to win a behind the scenes tour of the work going on, before enjoying lunch at the next door Wildwood Restaurant.

There are ten places to be won - all people need to do to be in with a chance is to take a lottery ticket, or proof of purchase, to the information and visitor centre in Coach Street, Skipton by Saturday, November 30 to be entered into a draw.

Danielle Daglan, cultural services manager at Craven District Council, said: “We’re all really excited about this project, which is transforming Skipton Town Hall into a fantastic cultural hub and creative, community space for the whole district.

“This is an opportunity for us to say thank you to all the lottery players over the years who have contributed to this fantastic project and many others around the country.”

She added: “The building work is progressing well and we’re sure the winners of our competition will be delighted to see the scale of the redevelopment.”

In the last few weeks, the steel frame of the extension being built at the back of the town hall has been constructed. Once completed, the extension, which replaces one built in the 1960s, will house a dedicated education space, museum store and research facility, plus flexible use dressing rooms and toilets, including an accessible’ Changing Place’ toilet.

Craven Museum will be completely redesigned, and will reopen on the ground floor, while a new gallery space is being created upstairs. The Concert Hall is being restored and upgraded, with a flexible and modern performance space including a new demountable stage, new house lighting and performance lighting, along with a live streaming capacity.

Two accessible lifts are being installed to the front of the new museum and within the rear extension.

The project is also being funded with £943,800 of match-funding and capital funding of £532,390 from Craven District Council. The remaining £1.6million is being underwritten by the council, with funding applications pending.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s investment amounts to £8 billion in total so far, funding more than 44,000 projects over the last 25 years.

During the majority of the period of closure, the Hub space in the town hall has stayed open and available for community hire. Wildwood restaurant and Skipton Town Council also remain open within the building throughout.

The town hall arts team is touring a number of events around the district during the closure, and Craven Museum staff are taking museum artefacts and workshops out to schools and holding free drop-in sessions around Craven.

Since April 2018, more than 1,300 people have taken part in museum rural roadshows and ‘make and take’ craft activities. Around 1,500 schoolchildren have taken part in workshops.

For more information about on tour events being provided by Skipton Town Hall go to: cravendc.gov.uk/skipton-town-hall