Defiant campaigners fighting to save New Quay Memorial Hall from closure have raised over £7,000 through various fundraising events in recent weeks.

And if applications for funding prove successful they aim to take out a 25-year lease on the 93-year-old building – built by public subscription in memory of New Quay’s World War One dead.

The New Quay War Memorial Committee was formed when cash-strapped Ceredigion County Council withdrew financial support at the end of March, amid talk of a potential repair bill exceeding £100,000.

County Hall chiefs argued that axing the building’s subsidy would be justified as grant funding was available and that they no longer supported other halls, including Lampeter’s Victoria Hall which was leased out with a grant in 2011.

Officers subsequently agreed on a six-month ‘period of grace’ leading up to 30 September to enable the hall committee to draw up a survival plan.

Explaining their continuing mission this week, committee member Claire Barnes said: “The community desperately need to preserve this vital piece of their community and to keep the memory of those lost at war in everyone’s hearts.

“The hall is used by up to 20 clubs and groups and if left to deteriorate further it wouldn’t be too long before it becomes derelict.”

A small group of volunteers have doggedly continued to hold a number of fundraising events including a burlesque evening, clairvoyant evening, a sponsored walk to Cwmtydu and a cawl lunch on Remembrance Sunday.

More details can be found on the Save New Quay Memorial Hall Facebook page or by emailing [email protected].

See this week’s South Ceredigion paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now