ANNOUNCEMENT: 30th May 2024. It is with enormous sadness that we announce that Guy Woodford, sculptor, environmental campaigner, former tutor, former Green Party councillor and good friend to so many, has died peacefully in Hereford hospital with his close family present. Guy taught at Malvern Hills College for nearly 60 years and was still teaching at his home until the week before his passing. Guy changed the lives of so many people through his inspirational teaching at the college and was a very active member of this campaign - we are all enormously grateful to him. Our thoughts are with his family.

LATEST NEWS: 30th August 23. ‘After many months of negotiations, we have concluded that the present terms and conditions of sale are too onerous to MHACC as a fledgling non-profit company. A similar view is shared by our major funder who has withdrawn from the funding partnership. Consequently and regretfully, we have withdrawn our offer to purchase the site and have accepted that MHACC’s endeavour to acquire the site has now concluded.’

WCG continue to say in public that they are still open to selling to an educational or community organisation whilst being fully aware that the terms they are imposing make it almost impossible. We hope that MHDC will throw every obstacle in the way planning wise to protect this important Asset of Community Value. There is still a real lack of understanding within MHDC about the potential that this site, operating under the plans that MHACC had developed, could have offered to the Malvern Hills District community and the wider region providing outstand arts, skills & lifelong learning education in a historic, purpose built site which would bring visitors from across the region and wider UK to Malvern to enjoy the college offer and all that Malvern has. There is talk about creating provision elsewhere, which of course is always possible with sufficient financial backing, but it would not have the same ‘Unique Selling Point’ / perfect location that the Malvern Hills College / Malvern School of Art had.

There is much talk about the fact that, as per the remaining aspects of the covenant (which can be read on the link in menu), Malvern Hills District Council stand to significantly prosper from the sale of the site if it has a change of use. In addition to the £850k they received in 2008, they will also receive 50% of the profit (uplift) of the new sale price once the base value has been established. If they cannot find a way to purchase the site that they felt strongly enough about to put a protective covenant on, we ask that MHDC pledge that any profits are reinvested in equivalent professional & community arts & skills provision across the District.

LATEST NEWS: August 1st 23. WCG wins High Court case against MHDC meaning that the educational protection within the covenant can be dropped. The sad fact of the matter is that to those at WCG and in UK Government, the kind of arts. adult lifelong learning & skills provision that MHC provided to more than 1300 students (often 3000+ in the couple of years pre-WCG) yearly from across the wider Malvern Hills District is not deemed as education. The benefits that this college provided, and even more importantly, the benefits that it could and should have provided in the future with better planning, better management, better curriculum, are lost to the Malvern Hills District alond with the opportunity to create a destination in arts and skills education and opportunity that would help put Malvern back on the Arts & Culture map. The situation is even more galling with the fact that already successful and well-supported Malvern Theatres have been awarded in excess of £20 million of taxpayers cash via the levelling up fund and with huge support from MHDC.

LATEST NEWS: June 14th 2023. The High Court hearing that WCG brought against MHDC takes place. Unfortunately WCG chose the most underhand method using a ‘Part 8 Claim’ (in basic terms, a very technical case based on covenant wording) which left no room for any moral, community or educational agrument to be brought into the court room. This was a direct challenge against MHDC’s comminuication and wording of the covenant.

LATEST NEWS: May 23. Efforts from MHACC, with the support of MHDC & Worcestershire LEP continued to try to get a deal done. Unfortunately, again, the terms required by WCG, were not acceptable to The Bransford Trust (as a charitable trust) so we lost our majority funding for this effort which we had hoped would avoid the High Court case and enable purchase of the college for educational & community use. We thank The Bransford Trust for their support to date and are disappointed to have to try to move forward without them. The High Court case that WCG have brought against MHDC is due to be heard in mid June. A third hastily arranged protest, given that we were made aware of waning support within MHDC, was held outside MHDC Council Offices on 23rd May to ask for MHDC’s continued support. Cllr Tom Wells, as MHDC Leader, voiced support and stated that he would do all in his power to try to save the college.

LATEST NEWS: March 23, we are still hoping to reach a deal with WCG who are in receipt of our offer. Malvern Hills District Council and Harriett Baldwin MP are also doing all they can to try to get a deal over the line.

LATEST NEWS: January 23, The Government has changed the way that Further Education providers are accounted for and now any sale of college assets deemed contentious (by the local community or in the media) has to have the approval of the Department of Education. The campaign group has written again to the Department of Education, as have members of the community, to highlight the issue again. Harriett Baldwin MP has also spoken again with appropriate Ministers to raise the issue.

LATEST NEWS: December 22, WCG are still considering the offer put to them by MHACC but still aim to get the covenant removed.

LATEST NEWS: August / September, discussions have been reopened with WCG and an offer has been made.

LATEST NEWS: July 2022, on the back of all the planning that the team have done and in reconising the huge future Adult Educational opportuinity that exists in Malvern at the site, The Bransford Trust, Worcestershire Counnty Council and Malvern Hills District Council have all pledged to grant MHACC sufficient funds to purchase the site (these grants secured against the property to protect funds). We are beyond grateful for this and thank everyone involved.

LATEST NEWS: June 2022 On 1 June 2022, Warwickshire College Group issued legal proceedings against the Council. In those proceedings the Court is asked to make declarations that:

i) the Education and Skills Funding Agency, as successor to the Learning and Skills Council, has properly determined that there is no longer a functional need for a college in Malvern; and

ii) the Council is in breach of its obligations under the terms of the covenant

No court date has been set but MHDC have had to submit defense already. WCG have also pulled out of their commitment to providing courses at Malvern Hills Science Park.

LATEST NEWS: March/ April/ May: Following more support from both Worcestershire County Council and Malvern Hills District Council, we started to work with the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership who enlisted an experienced consultant to analyse our plans and make recommendations. Following this process, it was recommended that both Councils support the plan.

LATEST NEWS: Momentum has continued to gather from other parties and the wider community -perhaps due to the awareness of the ESFA determination which is seen as grossly injust considering the extremely small percentage of enrolements that the ESFA funded (reported to be around 3-5% of annual enrolements). The effect of the closure continues to have an ongoing negative effect on it’s former students and staff and it withdraws future opportunity from the local community.

LATEST NEWS: Jan / Feb 2022, with The Bransford Trust’s generous offer falling through due to the very onerous terms required by WCG (The Bransford Trust as a charity is itself bound by terms), we (MHACC, Save Malvern Hills College Campaign and SOS Task Group) looked for alternative funding options and plans.

LATEST NEWS: On 21 December 2021, the Education and Skills Funding Agency made a determination that there is no longer a functional need for the College despite huge, overwhelming petition against this from the Malvern and Worcestershire community, Councils and MP. Extract from letter from Dr Lorna Pursglove, ESFA: ‘Within the ESFA’s remit for publicly funded learning we determined that there is no need for Malvern Hills College site as there is sufficient alternative funded provision for 16-18 year olds and 19+ learners in a reasonable travel to learn area. It is outside of our scope, to make a determination on the wider provision you describe, so we would suggest you direct the evidence to the Warwickshire College Group, to help inform the ongoing negotiation on the proposed purchase of the site and reach an resolution that respects the interests of all parties’

LATEST NEWS 16th OCTOBER 2021: Discussions are still ongoing with meetings this week butWCG are still determined to contest the covenant protecting the site for Further Education use. They claim that they have a fiduciary duty to do this -not surprising as they wrote their own rulebook!

LATEST NEWS SEPTEMBER 2nd 2021: A revised structure for the transaction has been agreed where The Bransford Trust (BT) would look to purchase the building with a lease to Malvern Hills Arts & Community College (MHACC). The intention is that The Bransford Trust CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) will take over MHACC’s offer to purchase the site and assets and negotiate to finalise the purchase by the end of this year.

LATEST NEWS AUGUST 21: We understand negotiations are ongoing but WCG are still doggedly determined to fight the covenant despite MHDC’s legal counsel supporting the covenant. Read more here

LATEST NEWS July 21: See the guerilla style ‘Peaceful Protest’ here, with support from Harriett Baldwin MP.

LATEST NEWS 21st JUNE 21: ‘Cllr Beverley Nielsen, Councillor for Malvern Langland, Chair of the Malvern Hills College SOS Task Group, said: 
"An offer has been made for Malvern Hills College by the newly established company, Malvern Hills Arts & Community College and negotiations are ongoing. It is hoped that the Save Our Students (SOS) Task Force can report back in July with negotiations underway since May.  Every effort is being made by the team to get this deal over the line, to preserve and grow this wonderful asset for our community and, if we are successful, a much wider course offer is planned with a well developed business plan already in place."