Hope seemed lost for thousands of people when a beloved arts and health centre closed its doors earlier this year, but a community-led campaign to save it has come up trumps.

The caTch Consortium was set up in a bid to claim the lease to the Community and Arts Centre Hextable from Kent County Council, who had been stalling on a decision since the current incumbents, South East Dance,- decided they would not renew.

Now after months of uncertainty it is preparing to reopen as The Howard Venue, offering the same variety of dance, music, health clubs and yoga groups.

Sam Goddard, one of the centre’s dance teachers, paid tribute to the efforts of committed locals who fought to keep the centre open.

“KCC had closed the building and there was no guarantee of it reopening, but thanks to a petition and great public support they showed a willingness to reopen it,” she explained.

“The consortium formed a trust and we will now be managing the centre ourselves. We have a two year lease, so the fight is not over, but we are really excited.”

“The consortium formed a trust and we will now be managing the centre ourselves. We have a two year lease, so the fight is not over, but we are really excited.” Sam Goddard.

Preparation is under way to officially takeover from South East Dance on June 1 and it will be renamed as The Howard Venue in honour of popular local dance teacher Pam Howard.

Mrs Howard taught dance at Hextable School from 1979 until 2000 and started hosting classes at the centre in 2011. In 2002 she received an MBE for services to dance, education and community.

Sam continued: “Pam was a driving force in getting it open again and we thought it would be a nice tribute to name the building after her.

“Now we will be introducing a lot more community classes on top of what we had before.”

The consortium will officially be handed the lease on June 1 and will be running classes and clubs throughout the summer before an official launch party takes place in October.