Campaigners place bid to buy Sheffield landmark Knowle Top Chapel after hitting funding target

Action for Knowle Top, a campaign group in Stannington, has now hit its £150,000 target to try to save the former Knowle Top Chapel and Schoolroom for the community.

Residents say the chapel has been a striking and much loved landmark in Stannington since 1879. It has been well used by a range of local groups for concerts, rehearsal space, coffee mornings and local drama groups. But the former Methodist church closed in September.

Campaigners say it has been a nail-biting few weeks but they have now submitted their bid to buy the building.

The deadline for bids had been last Friday.

Officials at the trust say campaigners have been working since the end of November to raise enough funds to put in a credible, over the asking price bid to secure the buildings for community use.

If successful, they say they have plans to create a venue for the community to be proud of with opportunities for concerts, arts, leisure activities and much more.

Nicola Parris, joint chairman of the trust said “We are enormously proud and grateful that the people of Stannington have come together to support this campaign. It is nothing short of a miracle that we have got to this point in such a short space of time. We now have to wait to see if our bid has been successful. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone.”

The fundraising involved residents buying shares and encouraging friends to buy shares. The deadline for buying shares was extended as they got close the the deadline for bids.

They also raised money through people lending to the trust with interest-paying fixed term three or five year loan bonds

As well as fundraising, campaigners also appeared for people to volunteering skills, expertise and enthusiasm in the planned transition from purchase to the management of Knowle Top as a successful business

Ms Parris said residents believe Knowle Top has huge potential to become a vibrant community hub and, if successful, expects a high-quality community space, with professionally managed meeting spaces and performance facilities hosting a range of events for the benefit of the people of Stannington and the surrounding area.

NEWS: Residents battle to save Knowle Top Chapel, Stannington, as community building goes up for sale