THE Pitman’s Parliament has been awarded a life-saving grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The extraordinary building at Redhills in Durham City, built in 1915 as the headquarters of the Durham Miners' Association (DMA), is said to be in "severe jeopardy" but an initial Lottery grant of £400,000 will enable emergency repairs to be carried out and allow progress towards a second stage of funding worth £3.8m.

DMA Secretary Alan Mardghum said: “This is fantastic news in our 150th anniversary year. It will enable us to begin breathing new life into this most important building. It is not just the bricks and mortar that matter but their very meaning and what they stand for.

“Redhills was the place where miners forged the welfare state even before it was thought of. From here we built homes for retired miners, reading rooms, hospitals and welfare halls from the south bank of the Tyne to the north bank of the Tees.

“The National Lottery Heritage Fund and other supporters are honouring the memory of these pioneers of social reform and their importance to British history."

At the heart of Redhills is the "pitman's parliament" of 364 numbered seats, one for a delegate from each colliery in the Durham coalfield.

Only last year, a survey by Historic England concluded that Redhills was one of the 100 most irreplaceable buildings in the country – yet, as the Echo has been reporting for the last couple of weeks, without this grant, it was highly likely that irreparable damage would have been done to its structure within months.

A campaign to save Redhills began more than two years ago, and has received messages of support from more than 2,000 members of the public, and organisations from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to banner groups and individuals from across County Durham.

Durham County Council has pledged to support the project with £1.1m of matched funding.

DMA programme director Ross Forbes said: “We need to thank lots of people for helping us get to this stage. The amount and support and goodwill we have seen is overwhelming.

"But there is still much work to be done. We will make Redhills and the Pitman’s Parliament a vibrant place where our culture is practised, performed and learned about.”

Immediate concerns for the building include curing dry rot in the roof and modernising the electrics. Other phases of the renewal include structural work to restore the fine façade and an archiving programme to save vital historic documents.

A key part of the programme is new, flexible space to the rear of the building to improve accessibility and unlock the potential of Redhills as a centre of heritage, education and culture for the Durham coalfield and beyond.

A ‘thank you’ event for supporters will be held at Redhills on March 19. Tours of the building are being held on the first Sunday of the month from April until September, starting on April 5. To book a place go to redhillsdurham.org