Blackwood Miners’ Institute: Petition aims to save Caerphilly county venue

Eloise Tong, who was theatre and art service manager for two-and-a-half years before quitting recently, said: “My decision to leave was driven by the overwhelming stress of fighting for the venue’s future.

“Obviously I appreciate the council are in very difficult position right now, but they were presented with alternative options and they appear to have chosen the worst case scenario.

“I’m just really disappointed and sad because I don’t feel that this decision is in any way necessary.”

The closure decision came as a shock to her and her team, who had been engaged in constructive discussions with the council.

“We were open to working with the council to reduce costs where possible,” she said.

“We had also over-achieved on all of the saving targets set by council, which were quite considerable targets for the last three to four years.”

One option was transitioning the venue to an independent charity over two to three years, but she said this appeared a “short-term fix” and “devastating for the community”.

“I struggle to understand how it went from: ‘We’ve got time to work through this’ to to suddenly ‘We’ve got no time and we’re proposing an immediate closure of the venue’.