The King's Chronicle - April 2020

From the Chairman

Dear Reader,
 
The building work and other installation work for the restoration of our Tudor building are nearly done. Running a little later than the  previously stated programme, but our enthusiastic volunteers should be able to start on the interior decorating and other finishing off jobs in the next three or four weeks, with a view to be ready for opening second week in April. This programme will complete phase 1 of our project - the restoration of the Tudor building sufficiently to open the Art Gallery and let out the four Artist Studios upstairs. Those who have looked through the windows will have seen that what was the bar area, now the art gallery, has been transformed to a beautiful space. We did, however, delay the refurbishment of what will become the meeting room (the old pool room) as the funding stream was not quite in place at the start of the building contract. We now have such funding, so are trying to squeeze in this work before opening.

Of course, in parallel we are continuing to work with our consultants on heritage recording and phase 2 detail design for the cinema/theatre and café/restaurant, garden area, kitchen and toilet block.

We are continuing to work very hard on fund raising from grants organisations and you will see recent successes under “Funding News Update”. We will also be launching a second community share offer in the next few weeks.

Thank you for your continued interest and support.
 Stephen Willmore – Chairman

From the Finance Director

At the AGM last November I took the opportunity to report back on the current financial position of the development project and the updated business plan which the directors had been working on during the later part of the 2019.  The slides which accompanied my presentation can be found on the website under the finance tab.

Over two years have now passed since our initial business plan and community share offering and it is safe to say that, now having bought the King of Prussia and peeled back the layers of history, we have a more informed view of what we need to do to complete our vision.

I hope that many of you will have the opportunity in the near future to see the exciting transformation that has taken place of the original building the highlight for me being the refurbishment of the original plank and muntin screen. This has combined pre-existing elements with rescued timbers found in the outbuildings together with some beautiful new timber work carried out by a skilled local craftsman.
This transformation, together with the purchase of the building was made possible by the generosity of the community through the first share offer in 2018 which raised £464,000 including £100,000 from Big Society Capital.

However the funds raised so far, together with a number of successful grant applications are not going to be sufficient to see the whole project completed including the cinema/theatre and restaurant.  This realisation, together with a desire by both existing and new investors to participate more in the project has encouraged the Board to propose a second share offering.   We discussed this with existing shareholders at the AGM and the proposal was well received.  For all these reasons the Board has started preparation for a second offer with the ambition to raise a similar sum as the first.  We hope to launch this share offering during the next few weeks.

This will enable us to deliver a first class cinema, theatre, arts and entertainment centre in Bovey Tracey that the community can be proud of for years to come.

David Alexander - Finance Director

Funding News

More good news! We’ve recently heard that we’ve been awarded £10,000 by the Headley Trust, one of the Sainsbury’s charities.
The Board is considering using this to complete the work on the meeting room in the historic building.
 
Also, the Plunkett Foundation has granted us some “free” specialist consultancy to inform a possible second share issue this Spring.
 
Bids have been submitted recently to Greater Dartmoor LEAF, to Viridor and to the Bernard Sunley Foundation.

Have you got your tickets for the Tasmin Little concert to be held in Bovey Tracey on 2 April?  

Volunteer opportunities

Tasmin Little
We are in need of people to help with putting up posters, here in Bovey Tracey and in the surrounding towns and villages of Chudleigh, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Lustleigh, Chagford etc. to help sell those last few seats for the Tasmin Little concert. If this is something you can help with please drop into The Cheese Shed, Fore Street, Bovey Tracey during office hours to collect posters.

Communications
External communications is a key activity and will become more important to us as we develop. With this in mind, we are now looking for a volunteer to join the team and lead External Communication. If you are interested in this exciting challenge please contact Stephen Willmore via the link below or 07710 300 897 if you would like to meet and discuss this position. CLICK HERE

Gallery and Exhibitions Co-ordinator
We are seeking expressions of interest for persons to co-ordinate the gallery exhibitions and sales.  If this is something that you have previous experience of and are interested in this exciting opportunity please contact us by clicking on the button below. CLICK HERE

General volunteering
We are looking to add to our team of volunteers.  As we draw closer to the time when the builders move out of the King of Prussia we are especially hoping for more volunteers who are experienced in painting and decorating and we can add the finishing touches to the spaces in the refurbished building.  Get in touch below and tell us how you can help. CLICK HERE

 What's Ahead for Spring 2020

Exciting times! 

• First phase of the project will be completed involving the opening of the gallery and artists studios.
• A second community share offer will be launched.
• Tasmin Little concert takes place on 2 April
• Funding bids continue to be made to support stage 2