Bank Hall Action Group

The Friends of Bank Hall is the new charitable name for the former Bank Hall Action Group who are a voluntary group which aims to raise public awareness and secure the future restoration of Bank Hall, a Jacobean mansion house and gardens, near the banks of the River Douglas, in Bretherton, Lancashire.

The group is affiliated to the Heritage Trust for the North West, which has assisted in raising awareness and will run a visitor centre at Bank Hall when the building is restored.

After local interest, John Quirk, a Guardian journalist, created a "Save Bank Hall" campaign. The first article appeared on 12 July 1995, asking the public to help the save the building. John Quirk met Gordon Johnson from Bretherton and Carol Anne Strange from Leyland who were among the people who replied and suggested an 'Action Group' to save Bank Hall.

In 2011, the Bank Hall Action Group needed to achieve charity status to enable the restoration project to continue to the next level due to the campaign progression. From 2012 the Bank Hall Action Group will run alongside the new charity group and will gradually be phased out and all work, events and plans will be managed by the Friends of Bank Hall. As of May 2012 the membership for both groups became combined. In November 2011 the constitutions were agreed and submitted to the charity commission. As of 6 June 2012 the Friends of Bank Hall was officially a registered charity.

The first meeting of the Bank Hall Action Group was held on 26 July 1995 at The De Trafford Arms public house in Croston. The Group have met on the first Wednesday of every month since, with an Annual General Meeting held at the May/June meeting. The Lord Nelson public house in Croston was a regular meeting place for the group, which featured in part of the Bank Hall Restoration Campaign in the BBC's Restoration television series of 2003. The FBH and BHAG meetings are now combined and continue to meet once a month.