Built in 1896 as a central meeting place; the jewel in the crown of the Leamington Spa Pump Room Gardens, the bandstand was designed to be host to traditional brass band performances and orchestras. A quintessentially British scene, spring and summer afternoons would see the bandstand surrounded by members of the community in their deckchairs and seated on rugs, having picnics whilst enjoying the music that emanated from the bandstand.

In the 21st Century, the bands have been moved to Jepherson Gardens for reasons of practicality and avoidance of noise pollution, and the bandstand is rendered obsolete, at least in terms of its original intention. Geographically central, standing near the railway bridge divide of the north and south of Leamington, the bandstand should be a centre-point, a place where all of Leamington can converge. In recent years, the structure is used very little, and local individuals are scared to venture near the bandstand at night due to its ill lighting and association with anti-social behaviour. The lights are turned off strategically at different times of year to make the structure a less attractive meeting point, and it is not even dressed in Christmas lights. It has even now been fitted with an alarm, as a deterrant, which can only be heard by younger adults and children due to its painfully high frequency.

We wish to reclaim the bandstand. We want everyone to have it back, to use it, to enjoy it. We want it to be a meeting point in the day, and a monument in the night. To transform it from a place that is synonymous with the anti-social to a place that is known for being social.

We would love you to help us.