A prominent public building in Oakham is launching an appeal for £50,000 in order to keep its doors open to the public.

The Victoria Hall is celebrating its 125th anniversary but like many public amenities, is struggling under the burden of significantly increased costs.

The money raised is urgently needed to support the ongoing running of this unique and much-loved hall and to enable investment in improvements and new amenities to serve existing users and to attract new users to the hall.

Among the items the hall needs money for are new boilers, roof repairs, disability access improvements, refurbishment of the ballroom floor and redecoration.

Tom Tyler, Chairman of the trustees said, "The Victoria Hall is supported by many volunteers but needs a lot of money to run. We are an independent charity with no regular funding and desperately need to raise money to make improvements and keep the doors open. The hall belongs to the community and we want to see it thrive for another 125 years and beyond."

Victoria Hall is launching an appeal for £50k to keep its doors open (Rutland County Council).

The charity has set up a GoFundMe site. Anyone interested in making a donation can here.

The charity's trustees have also teamed up with Lucy Slessor to launch The Friends of Victoria Hall, a group of volunteers dedicated to fundraising events and initiatives on behalf of the hall. Lucy has been involved in fundraising for a range of charities and is a well-known figure in the Oakham community as Chairman of Oakham Pride.

Commenting on the launch of Friends of Victoria Hall, Lucy said, "I love Oakham and I see the Victoria Hall as the heart of the town. It has so much to offer our community, which is why I am keen to develop Friends of the Victoria Hall. Our first event will be a Vintage Tea Party on 21st September. All are welcome to attend and we hope the Oakham and Rutland community will turn out in force to support us. We are planning further events in the run up to Christmas including a Halloween party and a talent competition, full details of which will be announced shortly". Anyone interested in joining Lucy's team can contact her at [email protected].

Tom Tyler added, "We are delighted to have joined forces with Lucy and her team to launch the Friends of Victoria Hall to help with our fundraising and grow our team of volunteers. We hope as many people as possible visit the hall for the Vintage Tea Party and subsequent events to support us in our fundraising efforts and enjoy seeing what the hall has to offer."