Caroline supporting the 2012 campaign to buy the hall 

At the end of this month, community venue Exeter Street Hall is in the running to win a £50,000 grant.

I’ve blogged before on the amazing campaign run by local residents as they fundraised to buy the venue and keep it as a vital, vibrant hub for their community.

The Hall is now an inclusive space where everyone is welcome, with a strong focus on community cohesion and the transformation of everyday lives.

However, now that it’s been secured it needs maintaining – and the existing 136-year old roof is leaky and creaky, hence the bid for £50,000.

This funding would come through the People’s Millions Awards - a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund and ITV, where the public help decide which community projects get lottery funding.

Every night for a week, two charities go head to head to secure more votes than the other to be awarded a sum of money in line with a particular project.

The Exeter Street Hall team is aiming for at least 20,000 votes and they’re asking supporters to phone in and vote on 25th November, when their bid will be featured on TV and the number to call is released.

To give the project a head start, the Hall team has set up a text service for use now if you’d like to be sent a reminder with the number to call on the 25th.

Text HALL to 66777 for the following message: 

“Thanks! Exeter St Hall has a chance to win a £50,000 grant from People's Millions to fix our roof. We'll remind you to vote on 25th Nov. exeterstreethall.org”

I’ll be phoning to vote on the 25th and wish the team all the best for reaching their target!

For more see http://www.exeterstreethall.org/.