People offered chance to buy £500 shares in town hub

1 hour ago

Danielle HuntGloucestershire

News image — The society behind The Exchange in Stroud is hoping to buy the building from its landlord

Handout Five people are sitting in a covered wooden veranda in the Exhange's garden area. They are sitting around a wooden garden table. Some are on benches and some are on folding garden chairs. The Exchange building is just about visible in the corner of the photo and so is the front of a car. The three women and two men are in discussion. Two of the women have a pen in their hand and a notepad in front of them. — The society behind The Exchange in Stroud is hoping to buy the building from its landlord

A town centre hub providing work and meeting spaces for small businesses, charities and groups could be brought into community ownership under a shares scheme.

The Exchange in Brick Row, Stroud, has been leased and run by the Stroud Common Wealth Community Benefit Society (SCWCBS) since it refurbished the Victorian school building in 2007.

The society now wants to buy the property off its landlord when its current lease ends in July 2027, using funds raised by selling £500 shares to members of the public.

Director of SCWCBS, Mustafa Sami, said the "rare opportunity" would ensure the building "will always be here to help new enterprises and groups".

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SCWCBS wants to raise £350,000 from shares to put towards the property purchase before 31 July.

The organisation is hosting an open event later to show potential investors around.

"We're extending an open invitation to people from across our area to come and discover what makes The Exchange so special," says Aurelia St Clair, the hub's manager and SCWCBS secretary.

St Clair said the aim of the community taking ownership of the space would be to "provide support to entrepreneurs, community connectors, and anyone in Stroud who values the transformational power of collaboration".

Handout The outside of the Exchange. A single storey sandy coloured stone building with four velux windows in it's sloping roof. A wooden veranda with a roof of its own is attached to the front with either three steps or a wheelchair accessible slope provided through which to enter the building. It's a sunny day. In the background are tall trees and light blue sky. There are hanging baskets and planters on the veranda. — The Community Benefit Society wants to bring The Exchange building into community ownership

Michael Steward has used The Exchange's coworking space for 16 years, firstly in his work as an education specialist and foster carer trainer and, in more recent years, to work on his writings as an author.

He said The Exchange felt like a "warm embrace" and community ownership for its future would be "absolutely ideal".

"I mean it feels like that anyway, so for it to actually come into that specific kind of ownership just feels perfect to me," he added.

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