Give us a home so we can keep a distance!
ARUNCORN dance school with more than 100 members has launched a search for new premises after the coronavirus pandemic made their former home no longer practical.
A1 Dance had been based in a building used by a school, church and community centre, but due to social distancing rules, is unable to accommodate all the groups as before.
Elizabeth Stagg, owner of A1 Dance, said remaining at the premises would mean cutting classes and having to tell “half the kids they can’t come back or make the classes shorter and keep them ticking along until it gets back to normal”.
It also appeared the club was starting to “outgrow” the location.
She has now been scouring the internet for a suitable home for the club, and had one promising lead dashed after a someone snapped up a venue in the time between her “finding it and viewing it”.
Parking is also an issue with locations she’s considered.
A1 Dance has been running in its current guise for nine years and 20 years in total.
It teaches through ages from three years to 18 and beyond with 100 children on its books plus adults.
As well it’s “USP” (unique selling point” of Russian ballet, members can also learn a variety of styles from modern and tap to contemporary and street.
Elizabeth said she didn’t want a “witch hunt” against their existing venue, but said it seems the time has come to move on.
She said: “We’ve kind of grown out of there. “We need more hours and they can’t provide it.
“We need to find somewhere else of our own.
“I’ve been looking and trawling Zoopla and YourMove and there are so many spaces in Runcorn but it’s getting ones we can use.
“There are lots of industrial and offices and to be honest I’ve seen places that are plenty big enough in our budget and the sticking point with Runcorn is we have areas where we the have the industrial areas and the office area and it’s the parking that seems to be the thing.’’
Elizabeth added: “Six weeks ago I started looking.
“It’s the parking, they’ve said there’s not enough parking space.
“We thought we had found somewhere and between us finding it and viewing it someone had put an offer in.”
Anyone who may know of suitable premises, or landlords with a location to lease should email infor@a1dance.co.uk