RVS in row with community groups over building sale
Campaigners say the charity has been slow to respond to queries, while the RVS says the pandemic is to blame for those delays, and it has to sell because the building has caused substantial losses
by Stephen Delahunty
Sign in to continue
Free email bulletins
CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save a community hub have urged district councillors to back a bid to buy the building. An extraordinary full council meeting of Ryedale District Council (RDC) has been called for Wednesday, January 27, to consider the future of the Hungate Centre in Pickering. Members are being asked to support the purchase outright - or potentially in a partnership – based on preserving the Centre for use by the community. The Hungate Centre in Pickering, which is owned by Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), was used by more than a dozen groups and organisations before it closed in March. A six-month halt was brought to the move to sell the building when campaigners registered the property as an Asset of Community Value (AVC) to give the community a chance to retain it.
VOLUNTEERS are campaigning to save a community centre and transform it into a hub for older people. The Hungate Centre in Pickering, which is owned by Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), was used by more than a dozen groups and organisations before it closed in March. A six-month halt was brought to the move to sell the building when campaigners registered the property as an Asset of Community Value (AVC) to give the community a chance to retain it. Pickering residents initially raised funds to buy the centre in the 1960s and gifted to the WRVS - which later became the RVS - as a community resource.