A CALL to help save a community building in Tavistock has been answered by local organisations and the public.

Last June, the community association of Kingdon House announced it needed to raise £125,000 for urgent building work in order to save the building and make it ‘watertight’.

For the last 40 years, thousands of people have used Kingdon House for different activities and advice groups but it would have been in jeopardy if the money was not found so the association called on the local public to help.

The public rallied together and the money was found to save the building for future generations.

Manager of Kingdon House Karen Woodward said that the money had been agreed from the Greater Dartmoor Local Enterprise Action Fund (LEAF), Tavistock Townscape Heritage Initiative, Tavistock Town Council and local fundraising, including the Co-op.

‘We still have a way to go but the main thing now is that we have the money to do the work and make the building watertight — we are delighted.

‘I want to thank everyone for their support. The local community have been so supportive and that support has meant that we have been able to access these grants.

‘Since the day it opened, Kingdon House has always sat at the centre of community life — initially as the Tavistock Printing Company, the home of the Tavistock Gazette and for the past 40 years, as a community space.

‘By making the building watertight we can continue to provide the activities that contribute to the well-being of the community.’

After the building has been made watertight then internal spaces will be revitalised by decoration and redesign to make better use of the space.

A sum of £80,000 towards the project has come from the Greater Dartmoor LEAF.

A spokesperson from the GD LEAF management team said its funding decision was an ‘important step in ensuring that a valued, local asset had a sustainable future and continues to benefit Tavistock and the surrounding area’.

The funding programme for LEAF is managed by the DR Company. Sophie Price, project advisor for the DR company, said: ‘It is such great news that this funding has been awarded and many congratulations must go to everyone at Kingdon House who has been working so hard to secure the future of the building.’