The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Bridge of Earn folk rallying round to save their hall
Acommunity is rallying to raise funds to save its hall after the building was hit with a “double-whammy” of Covid-19 and flood damage.
The Bridge of Earn Institute, which is more than 100 years old, needs a raft of repairs to keep it in use.
However, the committee has been unable to rent it out for events or classes during the pandemic, leaving it short of funds to complete the work.
The institute was damaged further during the storms in August when a wall collapsed in the cellar of the building , causing it to flood
Councillor Henry Anderson, chairman of the Bridge of Earn Institute, said reserves for the community asset are running low as they await funding from other sources.
He said: “It’s quite a challenging situation.
“Our reserves are a couple of thousand below what they should be and we need money to restart up the institute.
“We’re not making any profits whatsoever. We’ve got a playgroup back but we don’t make any profit out of that.
“We’ve got bills to pay and there’s not any funds coming from the community events that we just can’ t have at the moment.”
The team had been struggling along without an income for a number of months when the institute was hit with a further setback during the floods of August 12.
Mr Anderson said: “In August, during the storms, a wall collapsed in the cellar. It’s going to be quite an expensive operation to make sure that the cellar is secure and that it doesn’t impact on the foundations of the institute itself.”
Months after the storms, the committee is still having to pump water out of the cellar.
“It’ s been a double-whammy ,” said Mr Anderson,
“We’ ve always managed to survive by fundraising with events and dances but we can’ t do any of these things.”
A fundraising page has now been set up to help the institute raise enough funds to keep it open long-term.
To support the institute’s cause visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bridgeofearninstitute