Hall's well for Aldworth
Lord Iliffe leads the celebration at official opening of new village hall
PEOPLE in Aldworth celebrated the official opening of their new village hall on Saturday.
Lord Iliffe performed the opening ceremony at the eco-friendly hall in Bell Lane, followed by drinks and a celebration cake and a chance to enjoy the weekly Saturday market, which has re-established itself in the new hall.
The new hall replaces one that had been in use since the 1920s – originally used by Canadian armed forces and donated to the village at the end of the First World War.
Although it had served the village for more than 90 years, it was beginning to rot and repairing it would have been too costly.
The project to build the new hall was led by Aldworth Village Hall Charitable Trust and cost in the region of £343,000.
Trustee Nick Williams said that village halls were an essential part of village life and that Aldworth now had a hall that was fit for purpose.
He said: “It was great to see the new hall open on Saturday and we thank Lord Iliffe for performing the ceremony.
“Creating the hall has been an ambitious project for such a small village but one of which the whole community can be justifiably proud.”
The building features a main hall, storage space, a kitchen, meeting rooms, and toilets, including ones for disabled users.
Its eco-friendly features include an air-source heat-pump for the heating system, and solar panels.
Mr Williams said the trust was encouraged by the number of bookings the hall was receiving, with it being used by a range of groups nearly every day.
Funding came from the Greenham Common Trust, which awarded £125,000, the Veolia Environmental Trust, which awarded £55,441 through the Landfill Communities Fund, and many other trusts and foundations.
More than £90,000 was provided by the village hall trust through fundraising and donations.
When it started looking at building a new hall, the hall trust sent a survey to each house in the village to see whether there was a need for this.
A lot of the responses identified the need for the refurbishment of the hall or building a new one and this formed part of the village plan.
The chairman of Greenham Common Trust’s distribution committee, Glenn Clarkson, said: “The community in Aldworth has demonstrated through hard fundraising, strategic grant applications and the help of www.findmeagrant.org, that you can create a fantastic space, which the village desperately needed, that will be cherished for generations.
“The trust was happy to kick-start this project with match funding and give them the help when they needed it the most.”
The executive director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Paul Taylor, said: “It is great to hear that this project is now complete and that the new hall opened on Saturday.
“It will be a great asset for Aldworth and the surrounding area and I hope it is used and enjoyed for many years to come.”
