6 Months on at The Lantern: What have we discovered?

When we moved to The Lantern last November, we had a vision to turn the ground floor, previously a café, into a community collaboration hub – a place to work, meet, collaborate and innovate.

After more than 6 months of working here, hiring out the space, hosting our own events and having fun, have we made this a reality and what have we learnt?

Discovering our Audience

We’ve been lucky to have welcomed a wide variety of people and professions through The Lantern doors over the last few months, and this has really helped us to define our audience and positioning.

1.         Creators

We’ve had a whole spectrum of creators as guests, including film crews, workshop hosts, influencers and writers at The Lantern. Its unique design, creative vibe and versatility has meant that The Lantern has been used for everything from shooting café scenes, hosting workshops and YouTube filming!

2.         Catalysts

Beyond the creative world, The Lantern has become the perfect space for businesses, start-up entrepreneurs and professionals to host meetings and conferences. Our quirky space provides a welcome break from the bland corporate meeting room – great for when teams need to spark up productive discussions and brainstorming sessions in our variety of break out spaces.

3.         Champions

One of the most fulfilling aspects of our journey has been connecting with local charities, community supporters and social groups. The design of The Lantern generates a supportive and homely atmosphere for sharing and collaborating, all while remaining budget friendly too – a rare find in our area!

The Need for a Unique Community-Centred Space

As our audience has grown, so has our recognition of the area’s need for a community-centred space. Many of our guests and hirers have expressed that there’s a scarcity of affordable yet aesthetic venues in the area, that are not community-halls. The Lantern has filled this gap, offering a beautiful and flexible space that is suitable for a variety of events, and we can’t wait to grow so that we can support our community even more.

Most recently, we’ve partnered with some incredible local businesses to act as recommended suppliers for our guests, showcasing their amazing talent and supporting our community.

Hosting Our Own Events

On top of renting out our space, we've also jumped at the chance to host our own events and shake up our offering. So far, we've successfully launched two events under our "Literature at The Lantern" series. The first was our launch party, ‘A Celebration of Jackie Collins’ in collaboration with Simon and Schuster. The second was a publishing workshop for debut authors, providing valuable insights and networking opportunities for those at the start of their literary journey.

Looking ahead, we're excited to announce, "Love Stories at The Lantern," a panel discussion featuring esteemed authors Eva Verde, Julie Haworth, and Lucy Vine. The event, on 31st October, promises to be a heartfelt evening exploring themes of love and relationships in contemporary literature.

It’s fair to say we’ve loved our time at The Lantern so far, we’ve discovered a diverse and vibrant audience, recognised a crucial need for a community-orientated space and successfully launched our own event series. As we continue to grow and evolve, we look forward to welcoming even more creators, catalysts and champions to The Lantern.