Village Hall Gets Grant of £10,000

Posted under Blog by Ruth

A village hall, near Halesworth, has received a cash grant of £10,000.

The St James Community Hall was faced with closure due to a lack of heat and the fact that double glazing was not installed.

However, a cash windfall came in the form of the £10,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All programme.

The village hall are using the money to replace all 20 of the large windows, and to give the building a complete revamp.

Secretary of the hall committee, Chris Bradley, put the bid together. He stated that the village hall is extremely important for the local community. However, the single glazed windows were draughty. Unfortunately, they were not sure how they could fund replacements.

Fortunately Bradley was not surprised to be awarded the cash, due to the important role that the village hall plays as the ‘hub’ of the community.

After the grant was awarded work was quickly arranged and is due to start. The original windows were in such a bad state that the hall was facing complete closure.

Head of the Big Lottery Fund East of England, Sara Betsworth, stated that ‘a relatively small grant can make a real difference’. £200,000 worth of grants were given away in the region in a month.

The grants work to help support projects that provide facilities for the young and old in local areas. This can include fun days, courses, or new facilities.