The opportunity to takeover the building offers communities the use of a fully equipped, free and safe space for social, cultural or educational activity. The building is used by local groups, organisations looking to co-design, co-create, experiment and build stronger creative economies through sharing ideas, opportunities and skills across a spectrum of creative platforms.

Over 60 different groups and organisation currently take over the space for one-off events and sustained activity, these include but are not limited to:

Acting for Over 30s, All-Access Games, Bailgate Embroiderers Guild, Blind Crits, Cornhill Quarter Businesses Group, Dance Movement Therapy, DTC Productions, Extinction Rebellion Lincolnshire, Fabric Tattoos, General Practice (GP), Headway Lincolnshire, Hello Velo, IMPart, Justice Arts & Migration Network, Lincoln Big, Lincoln Neighbourhood Boards, Lincoln Zine Fest, Lincolnshire Cerebral Palsy Society, Lincolnshire Polish Society, Lincolnshire Recovery College, Lincolnshire Young Voices, Making Up Your Street, Mash Up, Mind, Morton Hall Detainee Visitor Group, Plastic Brain Press, Playback Theatre, Pimento Poets, Punk Scholars Network, Rise and Shine Theatre Company, Root & Sprout Super Club, Social Society, SlamJam Poetry, TEDxBrayfordPool, Visit Lincoln, Voluntary Centre Service, UNICEF, University of Lincoln, Vambo Entertainment, Women’s Wellness Workshop Circle, YMCA Lincolnshire and Zest Theatre.

Covid Update, June 2020

From the projects inception, the Takeover Programme has been intrinsic to Mansions of the Future’s ethos and vibrant cultural offer. In early 2020 over 60 community groups were making regular use of the space for free for social, cultural and educational activity.

In March 2020 we announced that the Takeover Programme was temporarily suspended with immediate effect in response to government guidelines, health and wellbeing concerns of our local community in light of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

After a lot of deliberation – conversations around feasibility and community wellbeing we have come to the incredibly difficult decision to announce that we will not be able to reinstate the Takeover programme. Mansions of the Future is a 3 year, temporary Ambitions for Excellence Funded project and this year marks our final, legacy year. With a scheduled project termination and building handover in September 2020. For the team, it feels neither feasible nor responsible to encourage multiple community groups, many of whom work with vulnerable adults to gather in our space between now and September. This decision has been incredibly difficult and has only the continued health, safety and wellbeing of our community in mind.

We are indebted to the community groups who have brought the building to life over the past few years and created such a close knit and energized creative community. We are working closely to support these groups in light of this difficult decision. The team will be actively lobbying for the value and importance of accessible, free and mixed use community space beyond the tenure of the project.