HELP US OPEN THE DOORS
Portobello Central SCIO is the community charity bringing Portobello Town Hall back to life, for everyone to use and enjoy. That’s what it was built for in 1914 and that’s its future. It has had a difficult few years but now the City of Edinburgh Council has accepted our proposal to take it into community management on a 25 year lease.
It is a venue for all the events of life: weddings and parties, music and dance, sports and competitions, markets and sales. It is a large hall with a stage, a good-sized meeting room upstairs and can seat several hundred people. Local groups and businesses are keen to have the Town Hall back. Already people are making booking enquiries for dates right into 2024.
The Town Hall is right in the heart of Portobello and just minutes from the beach. It is easy to get to - the buses stop right outside - so it serves Edinburgh and beyond as well as the immediate community. Recognising our commitment to reopening, the Council allocated £350,000 of Scottish Government funds to make the building wind and watertight. The scaffolding that enabled that work is down now, the windows are painted and all has been made safe, so we can move on to open the doors of our Town Hall. Portobello Central has strong public membership to which it is accountable.
A local, Fran, said:
"... it’s fantastic that the community has come together to revitalise the Town Hall for all our use. I can’t wait for the time when the Town Hall is once again a flourishing space, whether it’s for concerts or coffee mornings and of course with the aim of being carbon neutral. I hope you might be able to support the redevelopment of the Town Hall to ensure it becomes the thriving hub of our community once again."
LAUNCH US!
Hundreds of volunteer hours have been put in and we are confident that our Town Hall will wash its face financially. Every booking is a step forward, but we’re not quite there yet - we need “lift-off” cash help as there’s a whole range of things we have to pay for before we open doors. It is your place, your family’s place, your friend’s place – bring it back to life with a donation. We need £25,000 to open the doors and a bit more to be sure.
Can you help us turn the key?