East Woodhay Village Hall ‘in desperate need’ of permanent hire to stay open

A village hall has renewed calls for businesses and organisations to make use of it amid fears that it won’t be able to stay open without regular income.

The East Woodhay Village Hall committee is seeking new users to hire the hall on a regular basis in order to keep the important local facility going.

The hall recently lost a permanent hire of a physiotherapist in its meeting/consulting room and is now “desperately in need of finding a business” to occupy the room and help keep the hall open.

Village hall trustee Chloe Poulter said: “With the regular income from the physiotherapist, the hall was just about saved.

“Alongside our other efforts to increase main hall rental, we returned to profit.

“Unfortunately, as a result of entirely unavoidable staffing circumstances, the physio had to close their East Woodhay branch leaving our room empty and our finances in a concerning position once again.

“We are now advertising the room for similar businesses such as, but not limited to, beauticians, physios, artists, photographers and therapists, but we’ve had no luck so far.”

The room on offer to hire measures 3.3m wide and 8m long and can be divided in two.

It has its own private entrance as well as a cupboard and private accessible toilet.

The hall itself has ample parking space for visitors, and next to the hall is a public tennis court and play area with climbing frame and picnic bench.

The land on which East Woodhay Village Hall sits was gifted to the community in 1937 and the hall was built on it shortly afterwards.

Over the years it has been the venue for wedding parties, Scout group meetings, flower shows, yoga classes and many more.

To contact the hall for general bookings of the email EWVillageHallBookings@gmail.com

Those interested in establishing a permanent business in the hall’s meeting/consulting room should contact Chloe at chloepoulter@eastwoodhayvillagehall.org

Earlier this year in a bid to increase its use, the village hall committee offered to waive the venue hire fee to the first couple that booked their wedding date at the hall in 2024.

One happy couple did take up the opportunity, with their special day taking place at the hall last weekend on Saturday, November 9.