A COMMUNITY group is hoping to raise the funds to take ownership of Minehead’s old hospital, which was put up for sale last week at £800,000.

The iconic building, in The Avenue, was bought in 2015 from the NHS by retired consulting engineer Bill Howard and has been a focus for community activities ever since.

But, after seven years, Mr Howard has decided it is time for somebody else to take on the challenges posed by the grade two listed property.

Now, Minehead deputy mayor Cllr Toni Bloomfield, former mayor Paul Bolton, and former town councillor Emily Jones have launched an effort to buy the building and continue to run it as a community asset for the town.

The trio between them run Gateway Events and Minehead Connect, which organises a plethora of community activities.

Cllr Bloomfield said: “It would be a huge shame and a huge blow to the community if the building was sold on to be turned into flats or something.

“At the moment, the building is ticking over smoothly and it is a lively, vibrant hub for community groups.

“There are some days you come in here and you get a really warm, bubbly feeling inside when you have all the different groups using the different parts of it.

“We are trying to raise the money to purchase the building from Bill, but it is a case of finding people to help who have the right knowledge and skills to help.”

Cllr Bloomfield said talks had been going on for the past year with the Somerset co-operative trust which had expertise in finding funding for community groups.

She said: “We run the building and manage it and Bill does not need to have too much to do with it.

“We pay all the bills, like business rates, the Business Improvement District (BID) levy, the electric, and everything.”

Mr Bolton said although they did not expect to be able raise the money in time to meet the February, 2023, deadline for bids for the old hospital, it was not expected any other offers would be made.

Mr Bolton said it was estimated that the upper floors of the old hospital required £6-7 million of investment.

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