It is with a heavy heart and an immense amount of sadness that we must announce that Red Tower director Simon Perry passed away on the morning of Monday 4 May 2020 following a sudden illness. You can be assured it was not Covid-19. This is as much information as is available at the moment so please be patient.

Simon has done so much to provide for the local community and develop the scope of Red Tower operations. He will be very sadly missed.

Our vision for the Red Tower is to bring this historic building to life by offering an inclusive, welcoming space for creative, learning and social activities, run by local people, encouraging local and wider community participation. We will achieve this by creating and curating an ancient magical space that offers a unique oasis in our busy city.

“I love this example of a multi-faceted, community-based heritage voluntary sector organisation. Talk about survive and thrive!”

Jane Hustwit – Chair – YorkCVS

Red Tower York Winner in Category Education / Public / Community

Left to right Red Tower Directors Barry Beckwith, Imelda Havers, Simon Perry and Architect Geoff Holland

In the Beginning

In January 2015 the first seeds of the Red Tower Project were sown. After recovery from the Boxing Day 2015 floods the Project gathered pace. Feasibility studies were carried out and the concept of becoming a Community Interest Company was established, leading to us obtaining a 30 year lease from the City of York Council and employing heritage architects Holland Brown who steered us through the planning process.

The short video below, gives the viewer something of the flavour of how we started and and our vision for the Future.

 

 

 

Imelda Havers – Red Tower founder and guiding light featured in the video above presents her thoughts and memories of the journey converting the rundown part of the the Bar Walls to become a valuable local community resource and how this pathway can be applied to York Central.

You can find her blog here THE POWER OF FOOD – Red Tower York