A NEW venture supporting talented dales musicians could have the added benefit of giving a redundant leisure centre a new lease of life.

The Weardale Musicians' Collective is in talks with cement company Blue Circle about setting up a base at its former social club, at Eastgate.

The building operated as one of Wear Valley District Council's four leisure centres until cost-cutting forced it to close earlier this year.

Now the collective's founders want to raise enough money to reopen it as a headquarters, featuring recording studios, rehearsal rooms, a teaching base and a concert hall.

Collective secretary Hilary Holmes sees the whole project as a means of encouraging talent in the dale.

She said: "It is a very exciting prospect to bring something new to Weardale. We have the backing of the top professional and amateur musicians in the area, and schools are very interested.

"We are confident we can get the funding. The collective would operate as a charity and rely on cash from the National Lottery. There is a lot of talent around, and we want to promote that by giving them a showcase.

"If they want to be rock stars we can give them somewhere to practise and instruments to learn on. They can come and bash about with our guitars and amplifiers without disturbing their parents or upsetting the neighbours."

The collective's first promotion is a concert at Wolsingham Working Men's Club on August 12. Membership is open to adults for £5, or children under 16 for £2.50p. There are plans to run a series of tuition workshops costing £1.

Hilary is gathering instruments and says she would eventually like to stage a Weardale music festival.

She said: "We are getting a lot of support and we really believe we can make this work."

Anyone wishing to get involved can contact Hilary or her husband, Ken, on (01388) 528802.

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