Use it or lose it warning over Craven Arms Community Centre

Trustees of Craven Arms Community Centre today warned there was a "long way to go" before the venue could make ends meet.

The Newington Way centre has been running without a manager for the past four months and £15,000 has been hived off the wage bill during the calendar year to keep the facility open. Residents were today urged to use it or lose it.

Chairman of trustees Matt Smith said the centre's future was being monitored on a monthly basis and was "not sustainable" in its current state.

The doors to the centre are already staying closed on days when there are no bookings in a bid to cut costs.

Staff at the centre are already planning a series of fundraising events in the run-up to Christmas to engage local people and to keep the facility running.

Mr Smith said: "We are still very much in the midst of sorting things out.

"Our financial situation has stabilised but we still have a long way to go before we can say we are making ends meet.

"We have reduced our staffing costs and removed the manager's post which seems to have worked from a financial point of view.

"But there is only so long we can carry on without a formal managerial structure and we are having to see how things are going financially month-by-month," he added.

"Our biggest problem has been losing conferences – at one time we were doing one a month and it brought us a lot of money. The small grants from charitable organisations have also dried up."

Local Councillor David Evans said: "It is important that the people of Craven Arms get behind the centre and support it – it really is a case of use it or lose it.

"Residents and businesses should give the centre their backing and I'm sure things can be turned around."