Roman circus appeal needs £5,000 by Sunday (From Gazette)

Roman circus appeal needs £5,000 by Sunday

6:33pm Thursday 25th February 2010

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WITH three days to go, the campaign to save Colchester’s Roman circus is now just £5,000 short of its target.

Law firm Linklaters is the latest company to pledge cash to the Gaxette-backed appeal. Linklaters’ IT support centre, on the Severalls Industrial Estate, Colchester, has promised £2,500 from its community projects fund. This and other recent pledges brings the total promised to more than £165,000 – £170,000 is needed by Sunday.

If the target is met, Colchester Council will give £30,000, topping out the £200,000 needed to help buy land for a heritage centre near the circus’s starting gates.

Campaigner Wendy Bailey said: “It’s absolutely fantastic so many people are doing so much to help us. People really care about this project.”

Developer Taylor Wimpey has given Colchester Archaeological Trust until the end of the month to raise £750,000 to buy the Victorian former sergeants’ mess, in whose gardens, the circus starting gates are buried. The trust set up to save the circus hopes to get the rest of the money from a mortgage and from letting private developers use part of the building for flats.

Mrs Bailey said the success of the appeal had shown the level of public support for the heritage centre scheme.

To donate to the appeal, call Isobel Merry on 07891 234274 or go to www.romancircus.org