A shelter which has been a familiar Keswick landmark for more than 80 years is about to get a much-needed spruce up.
The PUPS Shelter at Wivell Bridge was erected in 1939 with monies raised by the Pushing Young People’s Society.
Their aim was to provide activities and engagement for young people by carrying out charitable work and they raised money for the clock on the town hall building.
Today the shelter is looking a little worse for wear but is to be refurbished with grants given to Keswick Town Council’s Fitz Park Trust from two organisations.
The first grant of £500 is from the Keswick Bridge (Lake District) Appeal, to which visitors to the timeshare resort can contribute. It enables visitors to give back to the local community in return for the enjoyment and help they have experienced from the national park and its people.
And the trust is proud to be the first recipient of an award from the newly set up Geoffrey Blake Architectural Heritage Fund, which is managed by Cumbria Community Foundation. This fund is for community projects of architectural merit, and the refurbishment of the PUPS Shelter was given a grant of £2,258.94.
The grants mean that the PUPS Shelter can have its rotting legs replaced, and be repainted in traditional green, which was the original colour of the shelter.
In 2008 the shelter was threatened with demolition following a barrage of complaints about anti-social behaviour taking place there – ironically young people had been using the shelter as a meeting place for drinking. It was saved and partly restored, minus the windows it originally had.
