THE secret benefactor behind a £1.2 million plan to save a town college from closure has been revealed.

Colin Kinnear, one of the founders of the Bransford Trust, has said he is behind proposals to buy Malvern Hills College and has broken his silence over the “distressing” suggestion by a government body that there was no longer a need for a further education facility in the town.

He said the ESFA’s decision could lead to the long-term closure of the college and loss of the covenant protecting the 100-year-old site.

Warwickshire College Group (WCG), which runs Malvern Hills College, announced last year that it would be closing in August as it was no longer financially viable.

Mr Kinnear hit out at WCG for its statement following a protest outside the college last week in which the group cast doubts on whether the new Malvern Hills Art and Community College (MHACC) would succeed.

“There is a statement of the cost and effort that WCG made to try to save Malvern Hills College,” he added.

“In fact, in 2016 when WCG acquired the site and college, at no cost to them, the South Worcestershire College Group, which merged with them and which included MHC, were in a funding surplus.

“After the merger, the courses available were reduced and any funded students have been moved offsite to Evesham or other WCG-run sites, as have any new applications over about the last two years.

“Firstly, the £1.2 million, which is the actual offer, has been guaranteed and is not a loan but is the sum for the purchase of the site and business by MHACC and forming a future asset. There is also a £100,000 loan arrangement.

“To say that this company has no track record is hardly surprising as it’s only just been formed.

“However, it will be offering the same range of courses, less the currently transferred 16-to-19-year-old students, and operating as the college was when sold by MHDC in 2008.

“There are precedents where new companies have stepped in to save jobs in precisely this sort of situation.

“Boundless Outdoors was formed in the same way to save outdoor education in Malvern. That not-for-profit community company doubled in size since formation and took on 25 staff from a standing start.

“When MHDC sold the college it set up a covenant to ensure that the site remained an adult education college.

“As about 80 per cent of the 2008 courses will be operating from the start under MHACC and as soon as it gets the necessary approvals funded courses will feature.

“We find it difficult to understand that the ESFA, as a government body, can believe that this new company is not fulfilling these requirements and meeting educational needs – current and future.

“Surely the 4,548 members of the Malvern community who’ve signed up to save the college and ‘Keep The Covenant’ can’t all be wrong.

Mr Kinnear said he has only been able to speak out because he did not join the Malvern Hills College SOS Task Group who were forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing them from speaking out when they formed in December last year.

“[It’s] not a very open introduction to somebody you state you wish to work with and support,” he said. “This means WCG can give their side of the story, but the task group cannot. I am only able to make the following points because I decided not to join this group.

“Over the last six months they have worked tirelessly to get their college back.”

The Bransford Trust, set up by the Kinnear family in 2004, supports the arts and education of young people in Worcester and the surrounding area and contributes around £500,000 a year to various causes.