Help needed to help fix monastery for community

VOLUNTEERS working to transform a derelict Devon monastery into a thriving new community centre are appealing for Paigntonians with paint brushes.

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Volunteers and visitors at the old Paignton Monastery, including, far left, Cllr Cat Johns

“Come along and join us - and bring your friends!” said local councillor Cat Johns, who is one of the team behind the project. “We need your help, whether it is DIY, or anything at all.”

Torbay Council had declared the old Victorian monastery building surplus to requirements and was ready to sell it off on the open market when Cllr Johns and her fellow campaigners stepped in.

Home of the Marists priests until 1971, it had been a Lions Club, children’s centre and food bank before it fell into disuse, and the new Paignton Monastery Community Interest Company (CIC) wants it to become a hub for the busy Clifton with Maidenway area.