The village hall operates as a registered charity and is run entirely by volunteers on behalf of the village residents. It provides the premises for Chiddingfold Village Nursery and a range of village organisations, including the Luncheon Club, dance and fitness classes as well as private hires (e.g. birthday parties). It also runs cinema nights twice a month.
The current village hall was built in 1993/4 to replace the one built after the First World War. It was funded by the sale of part of the original site for development. Whilst the structure remains sound, many of the facilities within the hall are more than 25 years old and urgently require replacement. 3 key projects which the Trustees wish to progress urgently are the replacement of the:
(i) Kitchen - Priority for 2021
(ii) Main Hall / Charles Watts Room Lighting
(iii) Heating System
The village hall is funded largely by lettings income. No grant support is received from the parish or borough councils. Annual operating costs are c.£35-40k and are barely covered by the income. Profits from the village cinema have generally been set aside to support new projects/replacement facilities though in 2019/20 the profits were spent on replacing much of the video/audio system to allow our popular cinema nights to continue. Closure due to COVID has had a severe impact on the charitys income in the last year whilst many of the operating costs continued.
Kitchen Replacement
The old, domestic quality kitchen is both poorly designed and well beyond its useable life. Recently the existing range and ventilation have been condemned on safety grounds therefore, until replaced, there is no operational kitchen. This hampers our ability to market the hall for uses such as sales, private parties and weddings.
The Trustees aim to replace the kitchen with a modern, semi-commercial kitchen, including new equipment which meets current safety standards. 3 quotations have been received. The likely cost is £45-50k but there is only £20k in the kitchen reserve funds.
Lighting Replacement
Electricity for the existing lights is one of the halls biggest operating expenses and many of the wall lights in the Main Hall require replacement. The Trustees aim to replace all of the existing lights with modern, energy efficient LED lights. The likely cost is c.£9k.
Heating System Replacement
The existing heating system is also a large electricity user and is inefficient. Replacing this will be more complex as the existing ducting runs under the floor. The Trustees have only just started looking at the options for replacement so the cost is currently unknown. However we expect it to cost at least £15-20k.
How You Can Help
The Trustees are actively investigating potential sources for grant funding however these normally take time to secure which is incompatible with the urgency to replace the kitchen. We are therefore looking to raise £10k from within the community and £20k via a loan, ideally by end-July to allow the work to be undertaken this summer.
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