A Bodmin Moor community near St Cleer is looking forward to a very happy Christmas after being told a bid by the Commonmoor Village Group to buy the local Methodist chapel has been shown the green light.

The group can now begin the work needed to convert the chapel into a warm and welcoming community centre for the village on the edge of the moor.

With no shop, pub or other amenities, the chapel has always been at the heart of village life, providing an important focal point and a venue for events. In 1993, villagers saved the chapel from being condemned by donating their time and money to restore it. 

However, in recent years the local congregation dwindled to the point where it was too small to be viable and the Methodist Church decided to sell the chapel building.

David Martin, who lives in the village, said: ’For many years we had been staging entertainment and events in the chapel as a way of bringing the village together.’

Villagers used the Community Right to Bid scheme which lets groups nominate local land and buildings that are mainly used to benefit the community to be listed as assets of community value by Cornwall Council. 

If and when a place on the list come up for sale, community groups have up to six months to raise the money to make a bid to buy the asset on the open market. 

Having used Community Right to Bid to secure six months to make their plans, Commonmoor Village Group set about raising the £65,000 necessary to buy the chapel. 

They received a grant of £45,000 from the Viridor Credits Scheme, as well as donations from local people. 

They also staged numerous fund-raising events including cream teas, garden parties, pre-loved sales, car boot sales, and pasty and bingo suppers.

The group’s offer was accepted by the Methodist Church, and the chapel’s future as a community centre has now been safeguarded. 

The next steps will be for the group to begin converting the building in the new year, and their plans include a new roof, installing an effective heating system, new flooring in the schoolroom and renewing the kitchen. 

The first event to be staged in the chapel now that its under the group’s management will be a pasty supper and bingo on January 13.

Lynda Perrett, Commonmoor Village Group treasurer, said: ’We’re a small group from a small village and we managed to save our local chapel. 

’It’s a fantastic feeling to know that our efforts have paid off and the village will have a community centre for the future.’

There are more than 100 buildings and sites listed as community assets in Cornwall and protected by Community Right to Bid legislation. They include pubs, village shops and halls, playing fields and even a fisherman’s shelter.

There’s advice about the scheme on the Cornwall Council website, cornwall.gov.uk