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A common issue that crops up over on the Wivenhoe Forum is that of where to find suitable space for groups to meet and work together within Wivenhoe. There’s the William Loveless Hall, the Congregational Hall, the Methodist Church, various pubs (although opportunities are dwindling) the football club, the cricket club, the sailing club, the Scout Hall.

It all sounds impressive, but then so is the demand for this space. The downside of living in such an active, creative community is that space is often at a premium.

Now available to add to the list, and with a unique niche of its own is Open Space, a new facility available for hire down at the Wivenhoe Business Centre. The emphasis is very much on health and wellbeing – current bookings cover yoga and pilates.

But it is also a space that is suitable as an alternative for local groups to meet up and work together on their ideas. It has been one of the prime bases for the Wivenhoe Open Air Shakespeare Company since opening back in April.

Owner Sarah explains:

“Open Space is a new venue in Wivenhoe. It is a studio space – it’s a reasonably large room with a beautiful oak floor, white walls and natural lighting. It has a small second room, which can be used for socialising after your class.

In the last few years I have been doing quite a lot of self-development work – yoga, pilates and a lot of work on my own well-being. I felt that it was a good idea to bring some of this to Wivenhoe and to create a space where people can attend classes or workshops or put on their own events.”

It is very early days for this new venture and Sarah has yet to start promoting actively the facilities that she has put in place. But the bookings suggest that the demand is there and hopefully the business is sustainable:

“Wivenhoe is a large community, a very creative community where people like to do things on their own doorstep. We have the William Loveless Hall which is a large space. This space is medium sized, and at a fairly reasonable cost it is available to individuals and groups.”

Open Space can’t compete with the Loveless Hall. The Wivenhoe Pantomime Group isn’t about to stage a winter run down there. But there is certainly sufficient space for any medium sized group to experiment and find somewhere quiet in which to work.

You can find out more details by informally contacting Sarah on 07939 480828.