Over £1,500 raised to get Old Sarum café going again after blaze
Hangar 3 Café burnt down last Thursday (17/4)
Last updated 24th Apr 2025
After a South Wiltshire café burnt down last Thursday, the man behind a fundraising page to get the business up and running again has told Greatest Hits Radio of the impact it's had on the local community.
The popular Hangar 3 café at Old Sarum airfield was destroyed in a blaze which is being investigated by the Fire and Rescue Service.
Richard Alman launched a GoFundMe page in the wake of the catastrophe.
He's told us the café was becoming much more than just a venue for food and drink.
"It was a place for people to sit, have a coffee, and watch the skydiving," he said, adding: "We found that people will just go sit there just to clear the heads, have a bit of mental welfare area and obviously it's gone. It's had a big impact."
Richard, who is part of the Salisbury Bike Night that meets at the Café, said he's been surprised by the amount of support the fundraising page has had.
"I didn't expect a lot out of the GoFundMe," he admitted, saying: "Obviously the cost of living is high, people don't have a lot of spare money and some of the donations are blowing me away.
"Some people even put £100 in and you sit there and go, 'that's awesome'."
The page has seen more than £1,500 donated in less than a week since the inferno destroyed the business.
Richard told us he was with Café owner Steve Philpott on the night on the disaster and felt compelled to help in any way he could.
"To stand and watch someone's business with them burn down, is not a nice place to be," he said.
He added: "Steve was speaking with the fire brigade, they were going to try and save it, but unfortunately it just got consumed.
And I just thought, how would I feel in that situation?"
Thousands of pounds worth of stock and equipment has been lost to the inferno, with Richard tell us that Steve has lost a new coffee machine, which cost in the region of £3,000, as well as tills and card reading equipment that cost over £2,000.
He added that there are people without work for the time being, while Go Jump is being impacted as the facility was a space for family members to wait and observe people sky diving.
Richard said the plan is to hire a temporary field kitchen with the money raised, which comes in a portacabin and a marquee for people to sit under outside.
Further cash would support the addition of payment machinery and cooking equipment.
We can donate to the fundraising page here and cash donations are being taken at this weeks Bike Night meet, which is being held at Dark Revolution Brewery at 6pm on Thursday.