More still needs to be done to support Highgate’s Lauderdale House, Parliamentary reception told

Geoff Martin, Katherine Ives, Catherine West, Nick Peacey and Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Archant)

A reception in the Houses of Parliament last week heard that £2.15million of the £2.3m needed to refurbish the historic building has so far been raised.

The venue is expected to re-open in the autumn, having closed at the end of last year while work is carried out.

Renovation work at the heritage centre will include a glass-roofed atrium and a state-of-the-art learning centre.

Addressing the event, hosted by MPs Catherine West and Sir Kier Starmer, Ham&High editor Geoff Martin said: “It’s fantastic that so much money has been raised.

A tudor beam wall at Lauderdale House (Image: Archant)

“It’s been a marathon effort, they’re on the finishing straight.”

Lauderdale House director Katherine Ives told supporters at the event: “We’re determined that when this transformation happens we’re going to transform as many lives as we can.”

This would be achieved, she said, through the historic venue’s heritage education programme.

“Within three miles of Highgate there are areas of huge depravation and poverty.

“Our mission is to get young people from these areas involved, get them there and connect them with their heritage.”

And St Pancras and Holburn MP Sir Kier said: “When I first moved to London we had a flat on the Archway Road.

“We didn’t have a garden, but Lauderdale House and the gardens were where we went, it’s a really special project.

“What Katherine has done is introduce a really special project for the future.”

Ms West praised the Ham&High for its support of the Lauderdale House fundraising drive, and said it was an important community asset.

Since work began, Tudor beams have been found upstairs at Lauderdale House, as well as bottles dating back to the 1880s.