- Area:
- South West England
- Programme:
- Community Buildings
- Release date:
- 30 3 2009
Residents of Wanstrow, Shepton Mallet are celebrating today after securing a bumper grant of more than £430,000 from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) to rebuild their village hall.
The money, from BIG’s Community Buidlings programme, will see the current hall, which is cold, damp and costly to run, replaced with a brand-new, modern and economical community facility.
Mark Cotton, Head of Region for the Big Lottery Fund in the South West, said: “This money is great news for the villagers of Wanstrow who are in desperate need of new facility for their community. At time when everyone is feeling the strain of the economic downturn the new hall will offer a place to meet up and socialise and access a range of activities and services. We are delighted to be able to support them.”
Once completed the new hall will have a main area twice as large as the current 1970s building and will be energy-efficient and environmentally sound. A retractable wall will allow the main area to be split into two rooms – a hall area and a secondary meeting room with IT access.
The new facility will be more adaptable and capable of accommodating a greater range of groups and activities, from gardening club, arts & crafts and keep fit classes, to luncheon clubs for older people and activities for children. It will also have a fully fitted kitchen and, unlike the old hall, will offer full access for people with disabilities.
Carole Tonkinson, chair of the hall’s restoration sub-committee, said, “We have been working on the project for the last five years and this grant has made it all worth while. Over £100,000 has already been raised from grants from other sources and a final push will now be made to reach the total funding needed.”
Mick White, chair of the village hall committee said, “Our village is just about to produce a Parish Plan, part of which entailed a questionnaire, and the most prioritised "need" emerging from the questionnaire was a new village hall. This level of support from the village, which has also been manifested over the years in a petition, public meetings and donations, has been invaluable in our applications to the Big Lottery Fund and other funders.”
Martin Taylor, committee secretary and project manager for the scheme said, “I’m looking forward to ensuring that Wanstrow will have a building for the 21st century that will be enjoyed by all in the years to come.”
Also in the South West today, BIG has awarded more than £395,000 to Patchway Town Council to complete the development of Coniston Community Centre.
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- Community Buildings is dedicated to investing in buildings that give communities a chance to improve their quality of life and meet local needs, by offering a range of activities and services open to a broad range of people.
- Up to £50 million is being distributed across England over three years with grants of £50,000 to £500,000 available.
- The programme opened for applications in June 2006. 200 applicants were invited to submit stage 2 applications and development funding was awarded to some projects.
- The programme is now closed for applications
- The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
- BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
- Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £22 billion has now been raised and more than 300,500 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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