LEIGH Spinners Mill has been boosted by a £252,000 repair grant from the Government’s Historic England department and is in the process of finalising additional funding.

The Leigh Building Preservation Trust will use the additional match-funding for vital roof repairs to ensure the grade II* listed building on Park Lane is wind and watertight and fit for future use as it looks to deliver ‘the largest community project in Leigh’.

The trust owns the steam engine and engine house at what is one of the largest and most complete mills remaining in Greater Manchester and has been deemed to be ‘ripe for redevelopment’ by Historic England.

The trust has also now signed a deal which will see it rent one of Leigh Spinners’ two mills for the next 99 years.

Acquiring the six-floor 190,000sq ft mill has made the trust the third largest property owner in Leigh as it looks to bring the town’s largest building into active use for the benefit of the community.

Chairman Peter Rowlinson said: “The full details of the three major announcements – the £252,000 grant, the match-funding and our acquisition of the six-floor mill – will be given at a public meeting at Bedford High School held from 7pm next Monday.

“We want as many people as possible to attend to hear all about the biggest step forward for the Leigh Spinners project yet.”

Historic England has launched a campaign to save historic textile mills after a study by the University of Salford showed that nearly half of Greater Manchester’s once-bustling mills have been demolished while hundreds more stand empty and neglected.

The campaign aims for surviving mills to be restored and turned into housing, offices or public amenities.

The Leigh Building Preservation Trust was established in 2013 to restore the Spinners Mill, which dates back to 1913, and has completed three phases of refurbishment.

Tea and coffee will be available at next Monday’s meeting, which will detail a number of new volunteer roles stemming from the latest developments.

The event will also give people the opportunity to buy tickets to the first public viewings of the mill’s recently restored steam engine turning.

Built in 1925 and running for the first time in 30 years, it is the third largest in the UK and the biggest of its type in the world.

A spokesman for the trust said: “The team have been working on a permanent power supply to the steam engine via compressed air and this is shortly to be commissioned, so we are now able to show the product of our volunteers’ hard work to a wider audience.”