THE 10 trustees who hope to transform Witney’s Corn Exchange into a state of the art venue are holding an open day to get the community involved.

The trustees have been appointed by Witney Town Council and are drawn from a variety of backgrounds to provide a range of expertise to manage the building including accountancy, finance and events management.

They hope to appoint an operations manager but want the building to be largely run by volunteers.

They have arranged an open day this Saturday to give the public a first glimpse of the new centre, to gather ideas and to seek volunteers to run it.

Trustee Phil Andrews, 37, who runs an events management firm, said: “This is a fantastic building with a fine heritage.

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“The trust is a group of people which brings a degree of expertise so we can make this a place that can attract not just local groups, but also international artists and performers.

“We need a group of people with the kind of experience who can handle interactions with these kinds of artists.

“We’re all local volunteers, we’re not politicians, so we’re led by people who simply want to make the best of the venue.”

The listed building was shut down three years ago due to health and safety concerns but re-opened in May after an extensive revamp for former mayor Jeanette Baker’s charity ball.

Mr Andrews said the exact date the trust will take over running the centre has not yet been set.

But he said the advantage of having a trust in control is that it can seek different types of funding, such as from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

He said: “We want this to be a very high specification venue.

“That costs money so we need to build in the sort of financial plans that will enable us to get the kind of equipment we need.”

The open day starts at 10am and is free of charge.

There will be talks and tours of the building starting at 10.30am and 11.30am and all are welcome to attend. There will be the chance to pledge support as a volunteer.

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