Last chance to back the Clifton cinema for funding boost

The Clifton Project, which wants to turn Wellington's former Clifton cinema into an arts centre, is bidding for a share of the Aviva Community Fund.

As part of the scheme, members of the public are invited to vote for the projects they think are most deserving of the money, and on the final day of polling the project had attracted nearly 3,000 votes – one of the highest scores.

The team behind the campaign is now urging people to take part in a final push for votes in the online polls.

A total of 3,320 community projects are bidding for funding through the scheme, and each individual is granted 10 votes which they can share between different schemes. So far, the Clifton has polled one of the biggest shares of the vote.

A share issue raised more than £32,000 for the fund, and several Wellington shops are also helping the funding effort by having collecting tins.

Campaign director Fiona Hunter said the group had taken lessons from Fordhall Farm, near Market Drayton. The organic farm was bought for the community through a similar share offer.

Only Fools and Horses actor John Challis bought shares in the Clifton, as has Councillor Graham Riley, mayor of Wellington.

The long-term plan is to acquire the former cinema, and turn it into an arts centre, which would include a cinema, exhibition areas, studios and a cafe bar.

The Clifton opened in January 1937 screening a Shirley Temple film and shut in April 1983. Part of the site was reopened in 1987 as a Saverite supermarket, but it was closed again in 1988.

The site was later converted to house a laser gun entertainment complex in a £250,000 refit in 1993.

In recent years the building has been used by Dunelm but is now on the market after the home furnishings giant moved out of the site in May to the Forge Retail Park, in Telford.

To vote for the Clifton, see the group's Facebook page www.facebook.com/savetheclifton, and then following the link in the article about the fund.