A COMMUNITY group has secured £30,000 in their attempt to transform a church into a village hall.
Read and Simonstone Village Hall Community Team have asked people to offer donations to buy the United Reformed Church in Read.
The group said they need to raise £140,000 to buy the church and so far have raised around 20% of the total target.
The Christian Church was formerly a Victorian boys and girls school in the 19th century and remained so until the 1960s when it was converted into a church.
Secretary of Read and Simonstone village hall community team, Geoff Hodbod, said: “We’re raising funds to buy the church so it remains a community asset.
"“This building is being bought by the community to be run by the community, for the community.
"“Read and Simonstone is the only small community in the Ribble Valley that doesn’t have a village hall.
" “Most likely a developer will take over to demolish it or build houses on the site.
“We really need donations from locals and local businesses. It honestly doesn’t take much."
To contribute visit https://www.gofundme.com/4c84w-read-simonstone-village-hall
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