One of South Bristol’s leading community arts spaces is renewing its appeal for backing from local people and businesses after ‘putting its future in the hands of the community’.
Back in April, Zion Bristol set itself the target of raising just under a quarter of a million pounds to buy its former church building in Bedminster Down, and the money has to be raised by June 24.
The owners have offered the Zion Community Art Space the opportunity to purchase the building, but if they don’t raise the money in time, it will be put up for sale and Zion will almost certainly lose its home.
Read more: Vital community space could be "lost forever" in Bristol
A crowdfunder appeal and a share offer have just passed the £100,000 mark, but in the next three weeks, Zion said it needs massive support, share purchases and donations to more than double that and secure its future.
Since opening the doors to the community in 2011, Zion has become a social hub allowing different members of the community to meet and socialise. The scale of what goes on at Zion is huge - it now runs more than 200 activities and events every year, and welcomes more than 15,000 people.
The Community Share scheme has attracted more than 130 investors, each chipping in a minimum of £50 for local residents on benefits in the BS13 area, or £100 for anyone else, with the building hopefully then owned by the community. “Community ownership is an opportunity to buy and manage local facilities, safeguarding the activities within them, at a time when the owners want to sell,” explained local Co-operative & Social Enterprise development worker Hilary Sudbury, who is helping Zion with the share offer.
“Owning the building will give long term security to Zion Community Space and the much loved activities it houses. The minimum shareholding for membership is set low to encourage as many members as possible to show their support for and have a say in its future: Buy shares, become a member and have your say in the organisation thereafter,” she added.
“Bristol has seen successful community share offers from Bristol Energy Co-operative, Bristol Community Ferries, the iconic blue and yellow harbour ferries and The Exchange music venue.” she explained. Further afield, successful community shares initiatives include Komedia and The Bell Inn, both of whom successfully bought their premises in Bath, and Clevedon Pier, Clevedon Community Bookshop and Low Carbon Gordano have led the way in North Somerset,” she said.
The share offer runs until June 10 and the crowdfunder appeal runs until June 24. If the target isn’t met in time, everyone who has pledged to buy shares will keep their money themselves, but ZIon Bristol would then face a very uncertain future.
To find out more about the share offer and the crowdfunder for Zion, click here.
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