Cash boost for Friends group

By timesecholife on in All News, Community News

A friends group which is hoping to turn a town centre building into a community hub, has received a cash boost. Cheadle Town Council has agreed to donate £500 to the Friends of the Royal Oak.

A friends group which is hoping to turn a town centre building into a community hub, has received a cash boost.

Cheadle Town Council has agreed to donate £500 to the Friends of the Royal Oak.

The funds are set to be used to help towards the cost of a feasibility study for the building which dates back to 1783.

The town council has also agreed to write a letter of support for the Friends plight in saving the Royal Oak.

The Friends have already successfully applied for the building to be registered as a community asset with Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

A community asset bid allows communities to nominate buildings or land for listing by the local authority as an asset of community value.

If the asset comes up for sale, the community can ‘pause’ the sale and take up to six months to find the funding required to buy the asset.

The friends of the Royal Oak aim to be able to purchase the building and turn the upstairs into a B&B while the downstairs would be turned into a hub for the community.

In a letter to Cheadle Town Council regarding her proposal for the cash and letter of support, councillor Paulette Upton said: “Friends of the Royal Oak need a statement of support from the town council to move forward to the next stage. I propose that the town council confirms their support.

“The Friends of the Royal Oak have been offered a grant towards the feasibility study, which will require match funding.

“We would like to ask the council for £500 towards this as a gesture of support. The feasibility study is expected to cost around £15,000.”

The majority of town councillors agreed to donate £500 and also write a letter of support for the project.

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