A Share of Hope for Brighton Community
Paul Winter thought someone would step in to save a much-loved hall for the local community. It turned out to be him. Frank le Duc reports
An unusual chance to buy shares ends next week. Share offers are the sort of financial proposal that big companies make when they decide to seek a listing on the stock market. In this case though, shares are being sold in a small community group which was set up to buy the local church hall. It’s certainly not a way to get rich quick. As the offer document says: “This is not just about buying a building. It’s about helping to build and sustain a community.”
The story starts just over a year ago when St Luke’s Church, on Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, put the community hall in Exeter Street up for sale. The roof needs replacing and the cost proved too much. Paul Winter, 46, a professional photographer who has lived in Exeter Street for 11 years, said: “Initially I figured someone would do something about it because it’s such a good community asset. A week went by and I spotted some developers measuring up and rubbing their hands. And that’s when I realised it was going to be me.”
The father of two said: “My daughter went to Exeter Street Hall for pre-school and Brownies and we’ve always used the hall for parties. I rang a friend of mine, Pete Golton, who’s very community minded.” A meeting in the Chimney House pub was followed by a public meeting. “We asked for people’s support and we had over £40,000 of pledges that night. We decided it was worth putting the work in.”
Their goal is to raise £200,000 to buy the 128-year-old hall. A new roof will add to their funding challenge although Mr Winter is confident that they may find it easier to qualify for some grants than the church. He said: “We found that there’s a lot of feeling in the community about it and in the first three weeks since the share offer was launched we raised over £50,000. There are currently almost 300 shareholders and we’ve raised nearly £70,000.”
With just over a week to go – until Wednesday 31 October – Mr Winter remains hopeful. He said: “I’ve always benefited from naïve optimism. We’ve got every reason to believe we’ll succeed.” The first share was bought by Caroline Lucas, the Green MP who serves the Prestonville area as part of her Brighton Pavilion constituency.
Mr Winter said: “She has been an enormous help to us and a great source of information and advice.
“Peter James, the author, won a boxing match in the hall when he was 13. He came to the hall to support us. Mike Holland (the property developer) is another great supporter. And although we’re not connected to the church, they’ve always said they’d love it if the hall could stay in community use. They’re giving us every opportunity to succeed.” Even the vicar, the Rev Martin Poole, has bought shares.
“It’s emotional at times. People are parting with their hard-earned cash in difficult times to support us. This hall thing has completely enriched my life. I feel like I know half the community now. I’ve met some amazing people and I’ve got an amazing team of people behind me. They’re far smarter than I am.”
As chairman of TheHallGetInvolved, the limited company behind the share offer, Mr Winter is doing all he can to spur on the campaign’s hundreds of supporters to save the hall. Each share costs £1 but they are being sold in batches of 50. The minimum investment is £50 and the maximum is £20,000. If and when the money is raised, it will undoubtedly take time to conclude the sale. Then a whole new challenge will begin.
www.exeterstreethall.org
