A Perthshire arts venue that has attracted support from Hollywood film star Ewan McGregor may have to close its doors due to a broken boiler.
Strathearn Artspace in Crieff has hosted film screenings and concerts, as well as running scores of local classes for the community.
However, its boiler has completely broken down leaving the popular venue’s future in doubt as a replacement will cost just under £3000.
The charitable facility, which has received support from both Crieff-born Ewan McGregor and his uncle, Denis Lawson, has embarked on a fundraising drive through social media to raise the necessary money to fix the problem.
David Campbell, project leader of Strathearn Artspace, described the situation as “bad luck” but emphasised how serious the matter is to the venue.
“This boiler would not be out of place on a ship,” he said.
“It uses up so much energy. We’ve had to spend around £800 to £900 per month on gas because of it, which is pretty unsustainable.
“We don’t have showers or a bath here so the large hot-water cylinder is not needed.”
He continued: “We recently had comedian Jo Caulfield here and she remarked on how ‘chilly’ it was when doing her soundcheck. We just told her this was due to the cold Scottish weather but it is getting worse — I’ve started wearing three layers of clothes when I come in every day.
“We run a life-drawing class with a model and had to put on four electric fires the other day. Even the fully-clothed people in the class were cold.
“It is the perfect storm and couldn’t have come at a worse time for us. With the boiler not working there are major issues with us running classes and holding evening events.
“People won’t come in here if it is freezing. The situation is now beyond belief.
“Every penny we earn is put back into the venue but it looks like we may have to close — possibly until the better weather, which would be a real shame.”
However, Mr Campbell is optimistic that the required money will be raised and praised the local community for showing their support for the venue.
“The public support has been really good — I’ve had people hand over ‘tenners’ to me in the street and someone gave me £30 on Thursday, which is fantastic,” he said.
“I’m sure we will raise the money to replace the boiler — we’re almost halfway there to the required total.”
Donations for funding to replace the boiler have been made by local residents both in person and via the Strathearn Artspace Facebook account.
