The doors are open at Calderstones Mansion House

On Friday and Saturday just gone, the doors to the historic Mansion House in Calderstones Park were opened to the public for the first time in forty years as The Reader Organisation unveiled the beautiful building and the beginnings of our vision for what will be The International Centre of Reading and Wellbeing at Calderstones.

The Mansion House truly came to life between the hours of 10am and 3pm on those very busy days, with more than 1,200 visitors passing through the doors. From tiny tots to nonageniarians, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Liverpool - and even a roaming labrador - the local community turned out in force to share reading, crafty activities, lots of tea and specially baked cakes and past memories of the Mansion House with our team. We were truly staggered by the support shown on our Open Days and delighted to see so many people waiting on the doorstep so early and continuing to pile in during the days.

The days were designed for people to Connect with Us at Calderstones - to share our vision of a space where every0ne is welcome to read, learn, play, make new friends and find new opportunities, as well as rediscover themselves. One of our many highlights of the day was collating the Calderstones Memory Wall - from weddings to baby photos, brass bands and Head Coachmen, there were tons of lovely memories that came back to life within the walls of the Mansion House. Looking to the future we also started to create our Calderstones Wish Wall, asking people what they would like to see happen in the days and years to come.

It was wonderful to see so many of you sharing in the Open Days with us - and thanks for getting involved on Twitter too! #CalderstonesMansion

Read and see more of the days' events - including a Reader Organisation fire-alarm Calderstones Harlem Shake - over on Jane's blog.

If you didn't manage to make it down on the days, we'd still love to hear from you as our consulation process for Calderstones gets underway. For more information about our plans for Calderstones, please contact Sophie Povey, Business Development Manager on sophiepovey@thereader.org.uk or  0151 207 7207.