Shepton Mallet campaigners rally to save Amulet Theatre

The Amulet Theatre closed in 2022 and has since fallen into disrepair

Community members are putting together a bid to save a venue which provides a "cultural and creative legacy" for the town.

The Amulet Theatre in Shepton Mallet was built in 1975 as a "state-of-the-art" space, but closed in 2022 before being placed on an at-risk list.

A successful application to the Community Ownership Fund would pay for the entire restoration of the building.

Campaigner Martin Berkeley said he is "optimistic" about the venue's future.

The Department of Levelling Up fund consists of £150m and helps communities to buy unused assets for regeneration purposes.

At a meeting on Wednesday, 47 members of the community gathered to discuss the potential uses of the restored asset, to ensure it not only opens, but remains "sustainable in the long run".

The building is structurally safe, but the interior needs redecorating, rewiring and heating systems installed

"We started by talking about what are the problems in Shepton Mallet that we're trying to solve," said Mr Berkeley, leader of the Let's Buy The Amulet campaign group.

"Things like social isolation, no community spaces for young people to learn or train, a lack of opportunities and of course we don't have a cinema or a town hall."

He added that reopening the theatre would also help to boost the town's economy by increasing footfall.

"We also really need people to come into Shepton and there aren't many reasons for them to do that," he said.

"I think it's the big opportunity Shepton Mallet has been waiting for for a long time."

Mr Berkeley said that in the 1970's, the venue had "all of the coolest things you would want in a theatre if you were building one".

Many of the theatre's original features are still inside, including the lighting and sound controls from 1970

The group hopes to submit its application to the fund this spring, with goals of reopening the venue to the public in the next two years.

"I'm optimistic that we have a pathway to get it reopened," he said.

Claire Appleby, from The Theatres Trust, said it is an "important" and "fantastic space".

"It was intended to provide a cultural and creative legacy for the town," she added.

The community group is also appealing to anyone who may know more about the history of the building, or own programmes from past pantomimes and events.

"That'll be very useful for our bid, to show how the building was used as a community space for a long time," Mr Berkeley added.

"To show how it was, and still is, so valuable to the area."