Edinburgh community centre in West Granton to close permanently

A popular community centre in the Capital has announced it is to close permanently despite a last-minute move to keep the doors open.

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The Prentice Centre in West Granton shut temporarily and stopped all activities at the end of June, following a review of its finances.

The centre said at the time the management committee had found that the centre was facing a substantial shortfall in its funding for the current financial year and would no longer be viable.

Now it has announced the closure will be for good.

A statement said: “At a meeting of the West Granton Community Trust management committee on Monday , the decision made on June 27 to wind up the Trust was confirmed. This will mean the permanent closure of the Prentice Centre.”

The city council agreed at the beginning of July to offer the centre an emergency £50,000 grant in a bid to rescue it from closure.

But the trust’s statement said: “With no confirmation of the process to secure this funding nor the timescales involved, the trust has been left with no alternative but to proceed with the winding up of the trust.

The Prentice Centre is to close permanently

"This is to ensure the orderly transfer of the premises to another charitable organisation and to meet our responsibilities to our tenants, staff and the community. This is in line with the constitution of the trust and the legal requirements associated with the closure of an organisation with charitable status.”

It is understood the premises are now likely to be put up for sale.

The statement added: “The management committee would like to thank our loyal members for their support over the years and assure them that we have done everything within our power to avoid this situation. Given our current financial situation and with no guarantee of long-term funding for staff and overheads, we can no longer operate as a trust.

“Following the suspension of activities at the Prentice Centre on July 1, there will be no further access for community use. Staff will remain on site until mid-October to care for the building and to manage the process of winding up the trust.”