The Theatr Gwaun Community Trust, is celebrating a new act in its history, as the venue in Fishguard has officially been handed over to them from Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC).

The theatre was under threat of closure from Pembrokeshire County Council seven years ago. The Friends of Theatre Gwaun was formed and a group of community volunteers took over the running of the venue.

The Theatr Gwaun Community Trust, a registered charity, has been leasing the venue from PCC for the past few years to test its viability as a business.

Since then the theatre has benefitted from the installation of a state-of-the art digital projector and sound equipment and more recently a satellite link for live broadcasts.

Thanks to the efforts of the friends, the trust and committed community volunteers, as well as a skeleton paid staff, the venue now shows block buster films from date of release as well as live broadcasts from the Royal Opera House and National Theatre and live comedy, music and theatre.

At this month’s cabinet meeting councillors agreed to transfer the ownership of the theatre to the trust.

Chairman of the Trust, Richard Goswell, said: “The Theatr Gwaun Community Trust is delighted that Pembrokeshire County Council has approved the transfer. This means that Theatr Gwaun can now be owned by the community.

“This is a giant step forward for Fishguard and Goodwick and enables the Trust to access a whole new range of funding for long term development. The Big Lottery has funds specifically allocated for community asset transfers to charities.

“It is a new and important chapter for the arts in the two towns. Five years ago the Trust took over the Theatr under licence from the County Council. This freehold underlines the successful performance of the Theatr over this period and underlines the tremendous work carried out by the staff and volunteers.

The transaction is the first under the council’s Community Asset Transfer Policy agreed by cabinet in February.

The purpose of the policy is to help local authorities work in collaboration with community groups to develop and sustain the delivery of local services while sustaining long term use of public assets within those communities.

Mr Goswell added: “As chairman, I particularly want to thank the Council’s Chief Executive Ian Westley and Head of Property Barry Cooke for their support in seeing this transfer through to its conclusion.”