Save the Step have some exciting news to share. They have been awarded a £250,000 grant from the government’s Community Ownership Fund towards purchasing The Step! The government have also awarded them up to £50,000 towards their initial operating costs.

By pledging support and answering our survey, the community has shown the government and other funders the importance of The Step to the local community, and it has been key in getting us this far, so a big thank you to everyone!

They have the grant, next comes the share offer.

Now they have been awarded the grant, they need to raise their half of the funds. As a reminder, the £250,000 grant is conditional on them raising the other £250,000 towards the total cost of buying and renovating the building. Some can be a loan but the majority will need to come from community pledges.

They will be launching the community share offer in January (exact dates TBC) when shares can be purchased. They will publish a business plan and share offer document in advance so everyone is clear on their plans.

To raise the £250,000 they currently have community share offer pledges of £177,000, with many people who are yet to confirm an amount. They need to make sure everybody locally who might support them knows about Save The Step. Please tell your friends and neighbours and encourage them to share this story or go to www.savethestep.com and sign up for their mailing list to stay up to date on their share offer.

Thye would like to thank everybody for their support, encouragement and pledges to date. They hope you all have a very merry Christmas and that with your support they can see you in a reopened Step next year!