St Cleer memorial hall future under threat

Under Charity Commission rules if the trustees are not replaced, the hall must shut

A memorial hall in south east Cornwall will close at the end of March if new trustees cannot be found to run it.

The four existing trustees of the hall in St Cleer, near Liskeard, are resigning for age and health reasons.

But under Charity Commission rules if the trustees are not replaced, the hall must shut.

The threatened closure would leave groups like the St Cleer Pre-School, which has used the hall for 30 years, without a permanent home.

Pre-school manager and play leader Jo Cliffe said: "I think it would be really devastating. We have families here that do not drive, it would be challenging for some of the parents to get to other pre-schools."

The chairman of the trustees, Christine Hayden, says all four trustees will resign on 31 March.

She said: "It just comes down to the fact that the years have caught up with us. We're now down to four people which is the absolute minimum.

"A comfortable number to run the hall would be six trustees. We'd hate to see a bolt go on the door and a padlock on the gate."

The hall was built in 1954 in memory of the local men who gave their lives in the Second World War.

It is also used by the local children's club, brownies, a gardening club and several other organisations.

The hall also boasts a recent £40,000 extension housing a meeting room and kitchen.

If the memorial hall were forced to close, two cleaners would lose their jobs and Ms Cliffe from the pre-school said the closure would affect six of her staff.

She said: "If we can't run from here, we would have to close completely. For most of us, this is our only job. If the hall stops functioning we don't have a job."