A HAMPSHIRE school is appealing urgently for a white knight to safe-guard its plans for a prestigious arts and conference centre.

The proposed venue is estimated to cost at least £500,000 but fundraisers say they are only looking for a £25,000 lifeline.

Plans for the centre, at the Thornden School in Chandler's Ford, have already won outline plan-ning permission, and cash from government and corporate sources.

Some £365,000 has been firmly committed to the project in donations and grants, but a further push is needed.

An appeal has gone out to business leaders to pledge the extra £25,000, which would then unlock a complex mix of match funding and further cash options.

Thornden headteacher Dr Robert Sykes said the aim was to create a centre of excellence for the performing arts. He revealed that the school is shortly to mount a bid to the Department for Education and Employment to become the first specialist arts college in Hampshire.

Under government targets for specialist school status, pledges for the remaining £25,000 must be in by May 21, though no hard cash will be needed until April 2001.

Dr Sykes believes the wider community would gain considerable benefit from having such a centre on the doorstep.

He said: "It would be very much a community feature. This is a school which is interested in developing links with the outside world."

Surrounding schools and colleges, and music and drama groups, have also welcomed the proposals.

Cliff Lassam, head of the largest junior school in the area, Hiltingbury School, said: "There is a distinct lack of any facilities of this kind in our local community, and with cultural performing priorities so high in this area there is a mismatch between demand and supply."

It is expected that the venue would be ideal for conference facilities because of the easy access to the M3 and M27.

For further details call Dr Sykes on 01703 269722.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.