The grand plan is to form The Felixstowe Fund, which will probably be a Community Interest Company (CIC), these have just been created by the government (1 July 05) and are designed to stand between charities and commercial companies for those wishing to establish social enterprises. I'll explain all this in more detail at www.spapavilion.co.uk but they seem to fit our requirements.

This fund could act as an umbrella organisation to market all amenity and leisure activities within Felixstowe.

However its most pressing task is the Spa Pavilion. The present management contract will expire in June 2006. We now have the pre-tender enquiry documents from Suffolk Coastal Council. It's a long tedious document but we shall apply. I understand that six commercial companies have also been invited, including Clear Channel the present contractors.

Now we need more people prepared to stand up and say 'Yes I'd like to get involved in some way'. Later we will require company directors and those capable of raising finance.

The pre-tender application has to be returned by 4 August, so there's very little time to make serious plans before then.

If you are seriously interested, please email me as soon as possible. Although we have an impressive list of potential directors and supporters we need many more.

It's not easy to obtain information from SCDC, partly because they don't yet know themselves but the present contractors receive about £175,000 a year, plus maintenance and insurance costs covered by SCDC. No doubt the Council will want to see that commitment reduced, but I'm sure they will be prepared to take a term view if the plans submitted are professional, and show increased benefit to the community, and an improvement to the theatre.

As a CIC we will be in a far better position to attract funding and income support from a wide variety of sources. One distinct advantage of CIC over a charity is that shareholders can receive a return on investment.

Last year the Spa managed 102 performances, half of those amateur productions. A lot more can be achieved, the demand exists but the present cost to hire the space is often prohibitive.

The building has hardly changed since 1960, when the restaurant was added. We know a lot needs to be done, but Felixstowe can become a centre of excellence, providing mainstream entertainment, conference facilities, meeting rooms and a social centre.

The Olympics are not far away, and with over 300 coach companies within a two-hour drive of Felixstowe we could have huge potential.

We need community involvement. Let's grab hold of this opportunity and show the world what can be done.