Urgent work to repair the roof of Burnham-On-Sea Community Centre is underway this week after a fundraising appeal successfully raised £57,000 needed for the first phase of the project.
Burnham-On-Sea.com reported last year that a major fundraising appeal had been launched to raise £80,000 towards the cost of vital roof repairs at the 200 year-old community centre building in Burnham’s Berrow Road.
Now, repair work is underway on the northern end of the building where the old roof has been been removed, and new materials brought in to make it watertight again.
Ken Hindle, Chair at Burnham Community Centre, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Our huge thanks go to all those who have donated funds towards the repair of the centre’s roof. We are delighted that £57,000 of work is now underway on the north end of the building.”
“Last year we had water ingress through the ceilings in that part of the building so the work badly needs completing.”
“A huge thank you goes to the Friends of Burnham Community Centre for all their work in raising the funds and for the support of all those groups such as the Freemasons and individuals that have helped us along the way with coffee mornings, donations, raffles and at events.”
“It has been a hard slog over several years but we are so grateful for the support to keep this lovely historic building running.”
“This is just the first phase of the work – and we are still fundraising to complete the repair project across the whole building.”
Dozens of active groups are based at the busy centre with over 600 sessions per year held.
Paul Hambleton, from the community centre’s roof sub committee, says: “These range from a war games group and the model railway club to the U3A and a wide variety of local interest groups covering faiths, disabilities, health and hobbies. We offer rooms to community groups at very cost-effective rates.”
He explained that while the community centre is owned by Sedgemoor District Council, it is run by Burnham and Highbridge Community Association, a registered charity, which has a full repairing lease on the building with 40 years remaining. “None of the volunteers are paid except for a part-time caretaker, so we are a volunteer-run centre that is here for the community.”
