Members of a new group hoping to run the Lockswood Community Centre in Locks Heath have plans to develop the upstairs room for dancers to use as a studio.
The centre, which is currently losing around £56,000 per year, will be maintained by Fareham Borough Council for another three months, until a group of trustees can take over the facility and run it as a charitable organisation named the Lockswood Community and Sports Association.
Lockswood Community Centre
The group of six has decided to rename the centre as the Lockswood Community and Sports Centre when they take over the facility maintenance, which is likely to be July 1.
Chairman Geoffrey Eales and Vice Chairman Ray Randall told Fareham council’s ruling executive they had plans to soundproof the upstairs room, as well as kit it out with mirrors and wooden ballet bars for dance clubs to hire after school.
They believe it could cost £14,000 and hope it could double the room’s income which currently stands at £800 per month.
“Our big passion is to make our upstairs studio into a dance studio,” said Mr Randall after the meeting.
“The nearest proper dance studio is in Eastleigh. In our wards all they really can use is parish rooms.”
Mr Eales added: “It would be nice if we could have it ready for September for the start of the new term, but that comes down to if we can get a grant.”
Currently more than 30 clubs use the centre, which is open from Monday to Friday from 9am to 10pm, and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. But currently only around half those hours are being booked, said Mr Eales.
He said the trust hoped to bring the deficit down within a year of it being a charitable trust and hoped to increase user groups.
He added: “We don’t want to make losses. Ideally what we’d like to do is break even or make a small profit to improve facilities.
“What we’d like is for the sports hall to be used much more on a Saturday or particularly on a Sunday. What we’re looking for is to start up junior clubs in basketball, table tennis and badminton with coaching for them.
“We started off not knowing what we were letting ourselves in for. But we all agreed we didn’t want the Lockswood Centre to close.”
The pair said they had grown with confidence in creating the trust to help provide a sustainable future for the centre and they thanked the council, its officers and particularly Locks Heath ward Councillor Susan Bayford and Connie Hockley for their support.
The group is currently seeking Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) status and need approval by the Charity Commission for their recently written and signed constitution and business plan.
The costs for the centre will be cut by £13,740 a year when, as a charity, it no longer has to pay National Non Domestic Rates, and its internal re-charges would drop by about £10,000.
The council will be making some of the eight jobs at the centre redundant but executive leader Councillor Sean Woodward could not confirm how many or when these would be taking place.
“We can’t say anything on that at all. That’s between the council and the staff,” he said.
A council representative will be appointed as a trustee at the next council meeting on April 25. The trust’s business plan and constitution will be brought before the executive at the next meeting in April.