TikTok star Mae Stephens backs Kettering music venue bid

Mae Stephens hails from Kettering in Northamptonshire

TikTok singing sensation Mae Stephens has backed proposals to turn an old bingo hall in her Northamptonshire hometown into a new music venue.

The former Gala Bingo hall in Kettering closed in 2018 and a local community hub wants to purchase the building.

They plan to put in a mix of health services, a café, performing arts spaces and a music venue.

The "If We Ever Broke Up" singer wants to help them achieve that, with the town not having many venues, she said.

The work is being led by Stephens' former vocal coach Beccy Hurrell and Lindsey Atkins, who worked alongside the singer as a tutor.

The pair set up the BHVA Axis Hub CIC in Kettering, which provides community support. They want to purchase the old bingo hall to further the work they do in the local area.

Kettering's redundant bingo hall used to be a theatre and music venue up until the 1970s

The old Granada theatre signage is still visible above a doorway

"When people realise what we're trying to do with the bingo hall, everybody's like, 'Yes, bring it back, bring it back to the high street, give them a reason to come back to the town,'" said Ms Atkins.

Stephens, who saw "If We Ever Broke Up" go viral on social media and reach number 13 in the Official Charts earlier this year, said: "There's such a supportive circle of artists [in Kettering] but never an amazing performance area. That's one of my things, I want to try and help them achieve that."

Lindsey Atkins spoke of residents' joy at their proposal to bring the venue back into use

Ms Hurrell and Ms Atkins said the building had a lot of "potential", but there was an "incredible" amount of work to be done.

The pair would like to bring the site back to how it was, but said it would need to be "financially sustainable".

"It would be a dream to be a 1,700 [capacity] theatre, but in reality we would have to downsize that a little," Ms Hurrell said.

The site has been left derelict over a number of years and at one point had a cannabis farm operating inside

"We want to bring services together, so many agencies are on board to what we are doing. Like the NHS services, third sector charitable organisations, hot-desking spaces, wellbeing cafes and rehearsal spaces."

Beccy Hurrell said she hoped to access funding to get the venue up-and-running

Refurbishing the site would cost £18m to £20m, but the pair said it was a "doable" number.

They are bidding for government funding to buy the building, which is priced at just under £1m.

"Once we've got the money to purchase the building, so many funding streams open because it's regenerating the high street," Ms Hurrell said.

"Because it's using the creative and the arts and bringing services and organisations together, we can access a ton of funding to get it set up."