Welcome to SaveWMC.org, a website run by a group of volunteers dedicating their time and efforts to counter the unnecessary closure of Wedgwood Memorial College by Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Our campaign group proposes that the College be run as an Independent Educational Trust (such as at Higham Hall), freeing the City Council from its financial responsibility.
To this end we were engaged in consultation with the Council and have launched a scheme to raise money so that there is an assured cash flow in place for the first couple of months of operation whilst the Trust waits for receipts to come in from people attending courses. The scheme has raised over £50,000 of pledges.
Wedgwood Memorial College's future does not have to be bleak. Working together we can bring it back to its former glory.
The Sentinel reported on July 9th that security costs for the College after its first month of closure were not far off £10,000. The College, let's remember, was closed to save £28,000 a year. SaveWMC set up its campaign to run the College at no cost to the taxpayer.
Newsletter 5 is downloadable from here.
Organised by the Save the Wedgwood Memorial College Campaign this ‘Day School’ will take place at the Barlaston Village Hall, with the Plume of Feathers and the Duke of York pubs also available for sessions and lunch. The use of these venues signals the contribution that WMC has made over decades to the local community.
The Day will include a ‘Dove Release’ from Esperanto House to symbolize our ‘Occupation’ aims; drawing attention to the cost and waste of empty WMC buildings, in the heart of Barlaston, which could be reopened to continue the educational traditions which we will be celebrating and demonstrating in our programme of events.
The SaveWMC campaign has recently been informed by letter from Stoke-on-Trent City Council that the revised business plan has been rejected and that the full Council has voted on and approved the budget proposals, meaning that Wedgwood Memorial College will be closed on April 1st 2012.
Please download our newsletter to get more about what the future holds for the campaign. We're not giving up just yet.