St Andrews rallies to save The Byre

Over 100 people from the St Andrews community gathered outside The Byre yesterday lunchtime as part of the petition to save the theatre. The large group of people included Sabbs […]

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Over 100 people from the St Andrews community gathered outside The Byre yesterday lunchtime as part of the petition to save the theatre. The large group of people included Sabbs Freddie Forde and Meg Platt, members of the Mermaids committee, and attracted national media coverage from BBC Scotland, STV and The Times.

The theatre was due to play lead role in hosting upcoming events, including Stanza, the Fife Jazz Festival and On the Rocks Festival.

Following its liquidation announcement, The Byre is now in desperate need of a buyer. Claudia Daventry, who setup the petition said: “It’s devastating for St Andrews, Fife and Scotland. What we are really looking for now is a fairy godmother to come out of the woodwork – a visionary millionaire.”

Petition starters – Clare Daventry, right and Gillian Gamble, left.

Ms Daventry, drama teacher at St Leonard’s and St Andrews phD student, believes that one or two St Andrews celebrities could be of help. She mentioned that she had been trying to contact Sean Connery, the hero of St Andrews’ 600th Anniversary film. It is hoped that the James Bond star could set aside saving the world and instead, ‘shave Shaint Andrewsh.’ Also on the list to contact are Kate and Wills, and it is hoped that they will put a stamp of royal support on the campaign.

Mermaids treasurer David Patterson said, “The Byre is an absolutely key venue for Mermaids. What we are trying to do here is to get a direction for our collective force, a nucleus of energy, and go from there.”

The campaign has moved quickly, gathering over 5000 likes on Facebook. It seems the message is clear: St Andrews doesn’t want to say bye bye to The Byre.

Mermaids men – David Patterson and Joe Cunningham.