Village Hall Extension Plans - Update
Residents will know that we had made a submission to The Big Lottery Fund for money to extend the Coore Memorial Hall, and if you read the July Parish newsletter, you will also know that we have been unsuccessful in this application. We thought that you should know the current situation and what we now propose to do.
The application for funding amounted to about £409,000. This was made up of £260,000 for construction costs and £20,000 for furniture and equipment. The Lottery people stipulated that we had to add fees, inflation and contigency figures which added a further £68,000 and unfortunatley HM Customs and Excise would not allow us to reclaim VAT, so this added a further £61,000. The total cost is therefore quite significant and it is highly unlikely that we would be able to obtain this sort of funding from any other sources in a reasonable timescale.
The reason that the funding was refused is stated in The Big Lottery letter as follows:-
'....We decided not to offer you a grant because:
Although the committee considered that your application had many good qualitites, we received more good applications than we could fund. In deciding which applications to fund, the committee considered factors such as the range of projects in relation to our programme aims, outcomes and target beneficiaries and the geographic spread of projects. Unfortunately, the competition for our funds and the need to ensure that a good range of projects was funded meant that the committee decided not to offer you a grant.'
You may choose to read into this statement what you will.
We now have to consider what to do next, and in the last few months various things have changed which influence the decision-making process. Last year for example, the Pre-school group moved to Ainderby, and now the Greensiders Choir are unlikely to continue owing to the ill-health of Barbara Chambers, their conductor. This reduces the need for a large hall since there are unlikely to be any further concerts or Christmas events. The recent event with 'Silver Street' in June also shows that outdoor events are possible with a little imagination and utilising the amenities of the village hall
Your committee has been very grateful for all the donations and fund-raising that has been undertaken in the village in the last 18 months which has raised over £6,000. We therefore propose that this sum be added to our own resources and be used to enhance the current facilities at the hall, rather than attempting to extend the hall.
The type of major work which we propose to do would include the
- Toilets : Re-tile the floors and walls in both sets of toilets. Fit new WC's, urinals and wash basins. Overhaul the ventilation. Fit new window in the gents. Re-decorate
- Kitchen : Revise the layout and fit new cupboards, sink and plumbing. Replace the windows.Re-decorate.
- Small Hall : Install damp-proofing and re-plaster wall.
- Main Hall : Instal damp-proofing. Change main entrance door to be main point of access.
- Whole Building : re-decorated throughout. Provide more comfortable seats.
These proposals are being costed over the next few months and if there are sufficient funds, then we may include further items such as insulation and possible change of heating boiler. We would hope to be able to start work on these proposals by the end of this year.
If you have any comments on these proposals, or you wish to make any further suggestions then please get in touch with any of the committee members. Two points of contact may be :-
- John Mainwaring-Taylor (chairman) 748617 or
- Peter Williams 748670
Related Pages
 | Village Hall Extension |