Sheikh Mohammed saves Cornish village hall to delight of locals

An audacious appeal to Sheikh Mohammed has paid dividends for a small village in Cornwall after the ruler of Dubai offered a major donation to a fund set up to save their village hall.

Locals in Godolphin Cross were faced with losing their Methodist chapel, which has been put up for sale, but a last ditch appeal to Sheikh Mohammed, whose racing and breeding operation comes under the Godolphin banner, has proved successful, albeit with a little bit of indirect help from the Racing Post.

Richard McKie, chairman of the Godolphin Cross Community Association, explained: "We learned the chapel was going to be sold in April 2016 and got the village together to try to purchase it. The whole point being that the chapel was the last space in the village that was still available for community use; we've had our pub sold for residential use, two shops sold for residential use, even the biggest church in the village sold for residential use.

"There is nothing here apart from the chapel, which we use for pensioners, youth clubs, scouts and other stuff.

"We needed between £90,000 to £100,000 and got some great local support, but we were staring down the barrel in November and knew this property would be snapped up if it went up on the private market because they do in Cornwall.

"Then one of the oldest people in the village, Valerie Wallis, came to me with a clipping from the Racing Post from 2000 when they were trying to save the other church from being sold. One of the group involved then was a horseracing fanatic and understood the connection between the name Godolphin and the Maktoum family. It came to nothing, but Valerie came to me 16 years later and asked if it was any good.

"I didn't think it was, things don't happen like that, but one day I had some free time so went online. I thought we might get some publicity and left a message – about 100 words – saying our backs were against the wall and we've tried half a dozen trusts that won't help us.

"I didn't think anything of it, but a few days later we got some calls, including one from someone who said they were representing the sheikh. We thought we were being hoaxed, but I wrote another two sides of who we are and what we want to do.

"Then I had a phone call from our secretary that we'd been made an offer. I can't say how much, but we needed £100,000 and this was a majority, which pushed us across the line.

"The irony was we'd tried the Prince's Trust and thought a way through would be the Duchess of Cornwall, but they don't give money to purchase buildings like this, so we didn't get anything from the Duchess of Cornwall, but we did from the ruler of Dubai."

'A real turning point'

McKie said the association had had an offer accepted and the deal to save the hall, which will create a couple of jobs, was in the hands of solicitors, while an art exhibition featuring the Godolphin Arabian, one of the stallions who founded the modern thorughbred, is also planned.

"It's been a real turning point for us, but it all started with an 80-odd-year-old woman with clipping from the Racing Post," he added.

"She's a Methodist and would never have had a bet in her life, but she remembered that story; that's where it came from. Stuff like this doesn't happen when you're trying to raise money.

"The pasties are on us and while Sheikh Mohammed probably doesn't drink he wouldn't have to pay for a pint of Skinner's Porthleven ale either!"

Shimon Cohen, a representative for Sheikh Mohammed's wife Princess Haya, confirmed the donation and added: "Sheikh Mohammed was pleased to help out."

Information on how to donate to the Godolphin Cross Community Association is available via chair@godolphincross.community