About No.28 Belper
History
Opening its doors in 2013, and taking its name from the street number, No28
set about converting a recently-vacated Salvation Army Hall, built on this site in
1930.
The Salvation Army hall had replaced the Angel Inn in 1930. The Angel was a
disreputable and disheveled thatched pub (one of the oldest in the town), which
closed when it lost its license in the early years of the century.
No28 ran for its first ten years as a privately-owned not-for-profit social enterprise, with any surpluses retained to benefit the project.
Community Interest Company (CIC)
In 2024 No28 registered as a Community Interest Company (CIC) that must put
community benefit before private profit. Any surplus should benefit the
community and show a real commitment to social goals, without political affiliation. Like any standard limited company, we submit an annual report with accounts and must show that we have satisfied our CIC status. We are registered with Companies House as:
Belper Venue Hire
No28 is a multi-purpose community venue providing a single 60-capacity hall
space for hire with a stage, well-equipped kitchen and unisex toilet facilities.
We offer a versatile space for a variety of community activities with ever-
changing art and heritage exhibitions on the walls.
Accessibility
There is level access to the hall itself via a side ramp, but four steps up to the
stage, kitchen and WC – the subject of an imminent planning application and
fund raising for a fully accessible toilet.
Support for Hirers
There are preferential rates for community/non-profit/public bookings. We also
provide assistance with planning hirer’s events and access to No28 publicity
including a free poster-design service and advertising of events through our
extensive mailing list and social media reach.
No28 - The Café
We open as a café (which we usually run ourselves) – serving hot and cold
drinks, light lunches, cobs, and cake – to support public events taking place in
the Market Place. Monthly Farmers’ Markets, Summer Sunday Markets and
Belper Food Festivals, are examples of regular events and there is also the
annual Belper Arts’ Trail and Pride weekends. From time to time ad-hoc cafés
support a particular fund-raising or community event.
All These Events + More at No28:
- Cafes (alongside Farmers Market & other regular and one-off markets)
- Community meals (Welcome Meal lunches & 3FF vegan dinners are monthly)
- Exhibitions (art + heritage) usually two-monthly
- Artists and makers stalls
Warm space drop-in (weekly, usually Oct-Apr) - Meetings/seminars
- Public consultations
- Live music (incl monthly jazz night)
- Private parties (anniversaries, childrens, workplace, wakes and the
occasional wedding!) - Pop-up meals (we’ve had French, Ghanaian, Moroccan and more!)
Comedy (usually two-monthly) - Plays
- Readings
- Fundraisers
- Festivals
- Well-being/spiritual (monthly Buddhist, Spiritualists and Gong Bath)
- Classes/workshops (from willow-weaving to botanical illustration,
printmaking to textiles) - Pop-up Art School
- Language Soirees (social evenings with different conversations in different
languages) - Specialist fairs (artists and makers, vintage clothes, brocante etc; annual print, ceramic and fairground model fairs)
- Clubs (monthly Book Club and Gardening Club)
No.28 is a community interest business.
