A north-east town could lose its Fishermen’s Mission after the charity announced it was listing the property for sale.
Peterhead’s Mission could close its doors this year if a buyer is found for the three storey Union Street premises.
It would leave the fishing town without a communal meeting spot and visiting fishermen without a place to stay when jobs take them to the port.
The decision to close up the Mission centre comes as the charity off-loads properties across the UK in favour of mobile or office-based approaches for modern fishermen and their families.
But the move has spurned one local man to launch a fundraiser in attempt to purchase 8 Union Street himself – and then hand it back over to the charity.
Steven Bruce, who runs Peterhead Fish Company, hopes he can form a committee to drive forward the idea.
Last night, he said: “I’m hoping to form a local committee to fundraise and form a trust. The Mission isn’t leaving the town, but we want to work along with them.
“It does a fantastic job in Peterhead, but we want the centre to stay open as well. It’s used by a lot of different groups in town, including Christian groups and clubs.
“People all over the country are offering to help. We want somewhere the town can be proud of.”
A spokeswoman for the Fishermen’s Mission said it would be willing to enter into talks with the new owners of the building about moving back in.
“The Fishermen’s Mission isn’t going anywhere, we will still be providing a service,” she added.
“Some years ago, the Mission trustees took a decision to sell all of our centres around the UK because they are taking up a lot of money, effort and tie people to a particular area when we would like our superintendents to be out and about more, meeting fishermen and retired fishermen.
“Peterhead is the last centre we own to be sold. If people want to buy the building to retain it as a community project, and want us to be a part of that in a small way, then of course we’d be interested in talking.”