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History
1949 - 1959
Shortly after the second world war, the soldiers had returned home but everyone was experiencing a dificult period with food shortages and ration books. A group was formed with the aim of helping out the old folk of the town.We can't find much information about this group but do know they collected bags of coal and basic food items such as butter and sugar and gave these out to the old people just before Christmas.
We believe the group met up in various Church halls during that 10 year period but we can only find very limited records of what was discussed and where.
If you can help us regarding this period then please get in touch.
1960
A wealthy local business man called Frederick Frazer became aware of the original group and was impressed by the work and activities they were carrying out for the old people of Knaresborough.
He then decided that the group needed suitable premises to work from which ideally should be in the centre of Knaresborough and be self funding.
He found an old Cafe in the Market Place which had 2 flats above it which could be rented out.
Following consultation with the Council it was agreed that Mr Frazer should purchase the property and together they set up a Trust which would own and manage the property and would be registered as a formal Charity 'Knaresborough Old People's Welfare Association'. Trustees and Committee members were duly elected.​​​​​​​
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1961 - 2019
The Centre continued to operate succesfully for the next 59 years and having several Chairman and Trustees, including Mrs Rosa Willans and her husband Neil who managed the activity for approximately 40 of those years.
During the latter end of this period we managed to renovate the toilet and the rear shed which had both fallen into very poor condition.We also replaced the electric heating system with new electronically controlled ones instead of the old storage heaters both in the Cafe and the 2 flats above.
2020 - 2021
We started having serious problems with the Centre roof as it had many broken tiles and several large gaps exposing the flats and even the Cafe to rainwater. According to the experts, the roof needed totally re-roofing as many of the roof structure beams needed replacing along with a new set of tiles.
On further analysis we found that most of the windows contained rotten wood and required extensive repairs.
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We needed significant funding to effect these repairs and we went out for quotations. These amounted to £50K - an amount that appeared impossibe for us to meet.
We appealed for funding to several organisations. We also asked the George Moore Foundation if they could help us. Following an extensive search to establish rightful ownership of the property, which we did find, they announced that they would grant us the money.
Then COVID hit the UK.
Although most activities were not allowed, builders were allowed to work.
2022 - 2023
Having raised the money we set about planning the renovations and agreeing work schedules with the builders.
With the Covid restrictions in full swing and the builders allowed to work, the new roof went up.
As the scaffolding was already in place it was a good opportunity for the joiners to work on the windows. Because it is a listed building we could only repair the windows and a highly skilled joinery company made sure that we complied with all the local planning regulations.
We actually saved some money as we originally budgeted for totally new windows and the repairs solution cost less.
We decided we had enough to re-furbish the kitchen and this change was agreed with the Moore Foundation - so we ended up with a very nice modern kitchen.
Also during this period we changed the name of our Charity to...
Knaresborough Friendship and Leisure Centre (CIO) with an ending meaning - Charitable Incorporated Organisation