Ashmansworth village hall refurbished

55-year old building gets new lease of life, after recession dashes hopes of new building

PROPOSALS for a new £180,000 village hall in Ashmansworth have been put on the back burner owing to the recession.

The sum of £20,000 has instead been spent on improvements to the existing hall in the village, which is set to re-open in a few weeks, following refurbishment.

Ashmansworth Parish Council had submitted proposals for a new hall to be built on the site of the existing 1957 Ashmansworth and Crux Easton Village Hall, Church Lane,

Ashmansworth, in 2008, because although that hall was considered to have done sterling service, it had become too expensive to heat and maintain.

The parish council hoped that plans for a new hall would improve the chances of securing funds from various organisations.

However, chairwoman of the hall committee Helen Skinner said the group's initial “high aspirations” for a new hall had unfortunately since been dashed by the recession.

“We couldn't get lottery money for a new hall and other people wouldn't give us significant sums for such a small community,” said Mrs Skinner.

Instead, she added, around £20,000 raised in the last five years had been used to refurbish the existing hall.

Most of this funding was raised by village events, plus £2,600 came from the Big Lottery Fund and was put towards the revamp of the inside of the hall and another recent grant of £3,230 from Hampshire County Council was put towards the cost of replacement windows.

Renovation work has included: wooden cladding of the exterior of the building; replacement doors and windows; painting the interior and putting up blinds; and erecting a new, lower ceiling and lights.

Mrs Skinner said the roof had been pronounced “quite safe” by an expert, while an electrician had overhauled the electrics and installed new plugs and sockets.

“It has taken us nearly five years of fundraising and grant applications but we are getting close to achieving our objective of transforming the hall inside and out,” she

said, adding: “When we re-open on Mothering Sunday, villagers will see that we have turned a 55-year-old building into an attractive,modern venue which complements its beautiful location.”

Committee treasurer, Mike Sarson, said the cost so far amounted to over £18,000,despite all the decoration and much of the other work being carried out by volunteers from both villages.

“We still have more money to raise to complete a patio outside the hall and to reequip the kitchen.

However we are confident that the hall will be used much more by groups and for private parties, “ he said.

The hall, which has been closed for most of the last two months during the refurbishment, is to re-open on Sunday, April 3, and will be in use for Ashmansworth and District Spring flower show, on Sunday, April 10.

For hall bookings contact Jackie Seaton telephone (01635) 254585.