Concerns have been raised over a much-used hall facing closure under the proposed budget cuts by Clackmannanshire Council.

This year the council is facing a budget gap of £11.56 million. As a result, services and provisions may look different due to savings. Part of the proposals include the closure of Sauchie Hall in October this year.

Sauchie Active8 is an organisation that runs some of the activities in the hall. They run a range of activities such as mother and toddler groups, adult learning, and youth clubs. Over 800 people made use of the hall last week and there have been 100 children attending youth group on a weekly basis.

A source told the Advertiser: “There’s nowhere else in Clackmannanshire that’s running that kind of service.

“So at night times there’s the bingo, now we’ve no bingo in Alloa anymore, there’s bingo in there three times a week. Sometimes that’s the only socialisation the older adults have.”

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The bingo nights are run by volunteers in their 70s.

The hall is also used for birthday parties and weddings, concerts, and conferences.

The source commented: “There isn’t another venue in Sauchie that would house that amount of people and activities that we do.”

Clackmannan Third Sector Interface (CTSI), which offers a wide range of support and services for charitable organisations, community and voluntary action groups in the county, wants to see the hall being retained.

A spokesperson commented: “CTSI fully supports the community in its work to keep the Sauchie Hall open, and, as we have done in other communities over the last few years, will focus on their vision and aims for the future of the hall, which we hope we can help make it a reality for them.”

The council have created a short survey on their budget consultation 2024/25 priorities which residents can fill out to have their say on the budget. The findings of the survey will be presented to councillors before they make a final meeting at the budget meeting in March.

The survey is open for responses until February 18.