Meeting to shape the future of the Village Hall 21st November 2023

On Tuesday 21st November, a meeting was held at the village hall to explore how this valuable asset could be brought back into fuller community use to serve the needs of the villagers under ‘The Declaration of Trust’. The meeting was called by the Parish Council as custodian trustees. Previous representatives of the Village Hall Committee were invited to help shape its future and offer their insights and experience. All those who had previously worked on the Village Hall Committee were thanked for their endeavours and, in particular, Michael Hutchins, as the outgoing Chair and Treasurer of the Village Hall Committee was thanked by David Bailey and Councillor Tony Southern for all his hard work and for his superb achievements in securing substantial grants during Covid.

How compliance with The Declaration of Trust was to be achieved was outlined by Councillor Corinne Franceschi. This will include elections to re-constitute the committee. The committee will consist of four representative members from village organisations and four elected members. New or previously unrepresented organisations within the area can be invited to put forward a representative; it was felt that the pre-school was one such organisation. The proposed date for the AGM of the Village Hall, where the committee will be re-formed, is Tuesday 25th January 2024 at 6.30 p.m. in the village hall.

There followed an open discussion about how to attract new people and some younger people to help make the village hall the centre of village life. It was felt that the pre-school was a direct channel to reaching younger people. A variety of different types of events were discussed. It was felt that, as a start, the aim should be to have at least one event per season and, perhaps, more going forward if there was a desire for them amongst the villagers.