Montgomeryshire Youth Theatre (MYT) are leading an audacious bid to secure community funding to buy the Social Club and keep it as a vital town resource.
The Welshpool-based charity has launched a Crowdfunding page to raise £100,000 to buy the Social Club which closed its doors last year after 50 years of business.
The property will go to auction soon but MYT believes that community spirit could see them successful in creating a multi-purpose facility.
“We want to buy the building and turn it into a centre that is accessible to many and varied groups in the locality,” said Penny Jones, MYT's Creative & Administrative Director.
“We have been trying to find ways to get funding to buy this building for about seven months. We are submitting an application to the Big Lottery for funding (we’ve been turned down once, and told to prove that there is a need for this facility in Welshpool) – but this can take over a year, and then may well not be successful.
“We gathered together a group of like-minded people who represent local organisations and charities in a meeting in December to discuss how we could proceed. These included Play Montgomeryshire, Action for Children, Paint the Rainbow and Powys Carers, and we have been collating feedback from these and many private individuals who want to provide arts based activities for children in the area.
“Welshpool Social Club have also shown an interest in continuing to meet if they have the burden of upkeep of the building removed, as have Ponthafren Association.
“We had all arranged to meet again at the end of January, but the estate agents have now confirmed that the building must be sold as soon as possible, and that it will be going to public auction.
“This means that we need to raise awareness in the community and do our very best to get the fundraising ball rolling as soon as possible. Although it seems unlikely that we will be able to raise such a huge amount of money in so short a time, we will use any money that is raised to rent or purchase an alternative facility, which will be available for use by the community.”
To support the cause, you can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/penny-myt?utm_id=2&utm_term=88dbP4DrM
Penny can be contacted on mytheatre@fsmail.net.