Dartmouth’s Flavel Arts Centre has been facing an uncertain future but it is hoped a new initiative will put it back on track.

Flavel Forever is a project set to run over the next five years which it is hoped will secure its financial footing.

The centre has been running for 20 years and offers a wide range of events such as a Journey into France on November 30, U3A classics with a history of Greek art on December 5 and a Christmas Crackers sing- along concert on December 7.

Trustee and Treasurer Ian Downing explained: “Over the years the requirement for unearned income had been increasing to a level that was very difficult to achieve.

“We get no support from any part of government or the Arts Council so the charity has to exist on it’s earned income and anything it can make through fundraising.

“Grants that used to be available are almost impossible to access.”

The situation had got so bad that insolvency and closure were a year away.

Founding member John Mitchell came up with the idea behind Flavel Forever which is to get 500 people to donate £150 a year (the equivalent of a cup of coffee a week) for five years.

Ian continued: “We already had around 450 Friends of the Flavel so we thought this was doable.

“We didn’t just want to ask for money to balance the books but put the Flavel on a secure financial footing for the future.

“We will be running projects like putting solar panels on the roof, expanding the cafe by taking down a wall so people in the library can use it and replacing the old heating and air conditioning system with something more efficient.”

Some of the events at the Flavel can be seen by some members of the community as elitist such as screenings of classical concerts, opera and plays so the aim is to widen the appeal.

Ian explains: “One of the ideas was to get a climbing wall which would expand the demographic.

“Climbing is becoming very popular and was included in the Olympics this year and at the moment the nearest facility is in Plymouth.

“We also want to reach out to people who are not using the Flavel at the moment.”

The trustees want to ensure that Flavel Forever isn’t about fundraising but is a campaign aimed at increasing the revenue, broadening out the range of provision and getting what grants there are available such as for green initiatives such as the solar panels, social inclusion projects.”

At the time of writing 167 people have already committed which is around a third of the way to their target number of people but half way there in terms of their fundraising meaning commitments of £35,000.

The Flavel are carrying out market research using SurveyMonkey and they would like people with any interest in Dartmouth, whether residents or not, to fill it in and tell them what you would like them to provide.

Visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FlavelSurvey