A GROUP of Ulverstonians has banded together in a bid to purchase an iconic town cinema, museum and gym.

The Roxy Collective has been formed to purchase the Roxy building and maintain the businesses which are already there: The iconic Roxy Cinema, world-renowned Laurel and Hardy Museum, the U-Gym Ulverston and 808010 Productions.  

Formed by local residents, The Roxy Collective is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC). The group has set out a three-phase plan; to purchase the building, to renovate it and collaborate with people in developing its community initiatives.

The most urgent first task is to purchase the freehold of the building, a spokesman for the group said.

When the building is secured, work will start to restore it, opening up more spaces for the community and making it fully accessible for everyone.

Ulverston Town Council has granted The Roxy Collective the sum of £50,000 towards the project, which is just over a quarter of the asking price.

The project has the full cooperation of the current owners, Mr and Mrs Armer.

The Roxy Collective is now well-placed to move forward but urgently needs the support of the community and business to make it happen.

Mayor of Ulverston Cllr Bob Brown said: “Ulverston Town Council is delighted to support The Roxy Collective in its plans to purchase and restore this much loved and iconic building and secure it for the town.

“We were very pleased to be able to offer a £50,000 grant towards the total purchase price of the building, which has come from our Community Infrastructure levy pot of funding; this is a levy on developers who build locally and can be used for capital projects such as this.

“We wish The Roxy Collective committee every success as they bid for other grants and I hope that this appeal to the community through a crowd funding initiative is highly successful as well. 

“It will really show other funders how important this building is to the community”

The Roxy Collective has launched a fundraising page to appeal for community support for the project.

The initial crowd funding target is £20,000 with a stretch target of £30,000.

Suzanne Garnett, chair of the group said: “The more we can generate through Crowd Funding, the more chance we have of purchasing the building quickly and moving on to phase two.

‘The Roxy is an important and much-loved part of Ulverston and has been for over 80 years. We feel privileged to be part of such a caring and creative community and look forward to working closely with the Roxy building’s existing fantastic tenants, and also celebrating and championing new art, new experiences, new collaborations and new stories.’

The Roxy Collective is excited to share its plans, discuss the work that has already taken place and have an open conversation with local people and businesses at a public drop-in session at The Laurel and Hardy Museum on Thursday April 21 from 6 pm to 9 pm.

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