A COMMUNITY club that feared it might have to discontinue meetings due to overwhelming price rises has found a new long-term home.

Winchester Café Scientifique (Sci) was one of a number of community groups that faced an alarming tariff increase for using The Arc’s facilities in Jewry Street, after a warning sent by the Hampshire Cultural Trust (HCT) at the beginning of September.

Winchester Café Sci previously paid £30 a month to use The Arc before being informed that they would need to pay £180, a six-fold increase. The cultural charity that manages The Arc spent six months evaluating how the space is used and its associated costs before announcing the hire rates.

READ MORE: Rising energy costs for the Hampshire Cultural Trust make hire rates unaffordable for community groups at The Arc

Unable to pay the new rates, the voluntary science group was forced to stop meetings at the Arc. After thinking that the group would have to continue online, one member suggested that the Winchester Club was looking for more groups to use its venue.

On Monday, October 3, Winchester Café Sci held its first meeting at its new home. Although still an increase in what the science café was previously paying, hire rates are manageable and members were delighted with the new base.

Organiser William Vine said: “It was quite a relief to find the Winchester Club because it meant we could continue live events as we couldn’t have possibly operated at what the Arc was going to charge.

“All round it’s been a very successful move. The team at the club has been great, they’re very friendly and helpful. We’re looking forward to a long future there.

“It all went much more smoothly in many ways than it had done at the Arc. We had control of our own equipment. The people there obviously knew the premises whereas at the Arc we had staff turnover and so on.

“We rely on donations from the group, it’s not ticketed. If we say we need a bit more then people will come forward because they want to keep the whole thing going.

“I certainly hope this will be a long-term home for us, we’re not looking for anything else because it appears to do everything we need.”

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The science café is one of three groups that has moved to the Winchester Club following the price spikes at The Arc.

The director of arts and culture at Hampshire Cultural Trust, Beck Jeffery, listed three factors behind the new hire rates including inconsistency in room rates, staffing prices for keeping the facility open out of hours and energy costs.

The Hampshire Cultural Trust is unable to disclose which groups have stayed and which are leaving. However, the poetry group Winchester Muse has also shared its disappointment at the sudden notice of the new hire rates.

READ ALSO: Winchester Poetry Festival prepares to announce prize winners among autumnal events at The Arc

Louise Taylor from Winchester Muse said: “We are now forced to conclude that HCT’s own mission statement to provide a venue for local community groups – and its website tagline ('A place for arts, reading and community, all under one roof') – is nothing more than semantics.

“Make no mistake: driving Winchester Muse away from the ARC will profoundly affect many local people. Some will continue to access our group online and a few others may look further afield to Southampton or London. However, a significant minority, whether due to physical or learning disabilities, lack of access to the right home technology, or their own discomfort with virtual meetings, will lose out altogether.”

Chief executive Paul Sapwell has since assured the poetry group that the new charges will be in place from January 2023, not with immediate effect like Winchester Muse and Café Sci thought.