THE chair of a carnival club said they have to find a new site if they want to continue building their cart.

Gemini CC, which has been going for over 25 years, was given notice to leave the site where they are currently based by January 2025.

Liz Toms, the chair of the club, said finding a new place is a “shadow hanging over us” and she is already looking for new sites on which to build their cart.

Their participation at next year's carnival could also be at risk, as the club needs to decide whether to use their funds to build a cart or find a new site.

Liz said: “We currently rent the site that we are on, and the landlord has given us a notice to leave the site by January 2025.

“At the moment, we are based between Seavington and Kingstone, near Ilminster, and we are starting to look for new sites.

“We contacted local businesses; we did a lot of advertising to see if we could find another site.

“Ideally, we are looking for ¾ of an acre. We own our sheds, but we can consider leaving our sheds and moving into a new one.

“The current landlords have been very supportive. We have been on the current site for 16/17 years and they gave us a good period of notice.

“Finding a new place, it’s something on the back of our minds all the time. If we have got nowhere to go it could be the end of the club. It’s a shadow hanging over us.

“We are looking for a similar sort of area. Most of our members are from Ilminster and Chard, so ideally, we would like something within eight/10-mile radius.

“All of our money comes from fundraising so now it’s whether we can use the funds to build a cart for next year or to look for a new place.

“We had meetings because we need to decide how we take it forward. Without finding a site it’s very difficult to start planning.”

If you can help the carnival club, email geminicc@talktalk.net or visit their Facebook page.