THE people of Oswestry have shown their interest in reviving a town centre building as a community venue.

That is the view of Ingrid Knowles, part of the group looking to transform the former Regal Cinema into a community and entertainment hub, after around 200 people attended a series of brainstorming workshops at Oswestry Memorial Hall on Sunday.

Mrs Knowles said that the day of discussions, led by facilitators Lise McNamara and Harriet Brooke, was a success.

"Now we know that there is a real interest in Oswestry for a big community space," she said.

The Advertizer revealed last month how the group wants to turn the cinema – and possibly the adjacent B-Wise building – into an entertainment, educational and social hub.

Facilities could include a cinema, theatre space, social areas and a training scheme for young people.

Of the feedback from the day, she said: "We have not been able to get into depth with it and analyse but what we have found was that people were really thinking sideways and outside the box - they were all trying to get hold of their topics in a very creative way.

"They're all trying to make this a good, working, sociable place and bring aspects which you wouldn't have thought of if you had to sit by yourself and work it out."

The group is now set to base the business plan for the project on the feedback from the event, and will look to set up a legal entity for the venture.

They will also seek funding from various organisations and individuals and hope to set up a shareholder scheme.

Mrs Knowles praised the amount of support the project has received from the community, with offers of help with construction as well as legal and financial matters.

"It was just wonderful to see the good will of the people," she said.

"We had lot of volunteers helping throughout the day – that was another wonderful thing."

Those who stayed around for the whole event were split into seven workshops covering different topics.

For the food group meeting, spokeswoman Ann Redford said: "We'd like to see the food aspect be a co-operative and also multi-cultural.

"The cafe would be a general space, and we'd like some pre-fitted kitchens to be for hire for pop-up businesses and such like."

The next group was for arts and crafts, and Tammy Williams spoke on behalf of the 20 plus members in that workshop.

She said: "There's been lots of ideas but we're still working towards it.

"We're working towards the idea of Oswestry becoming a town of culture as we think businesses will fell the benefit of being a 'town of culture'.

"We'd like to come and do events and they can stay here, which could benefit B&B owners."

Another group was looking at the possibility of making the Hub a multi-functioning performance arts centre.

They said: "The main ambition is for a 400-seater theatre and then a small cinema. That could underpin the cost of what we're trying to do.

"We want to bring music here too, and could bring in a commercial group for this."

Group four of the seven workshops worked on inclusivity and they said: "We're looking to make this group and business idea as inclusive as possible.

"Regardless of age, colour, ability, etc, we want this hub to be open to all."

The fifth group was looking at how to make the regal more collaborative.

They said: "We want to create a space that people can use in here.

"It would be a a creative space for people to use in a hot-desking way with WiFi, so people can use it for networking or as freelancers."

Meanwhile, group six was looking at a similar creation of a working space, but for people with more practical skills who want to learn or teach.

They said: "There would be a space for people doing more practical things like woodworking."

The last group said they were looking at the creation of a space for improving physical and mental health in a non-aggressive environment, such as yoga or table tennis.

They said: "We think there is a gap for people who are between rehabilitation and going to the gym. We can bridge that gap here and it can bring people together."