Great News……It’s Happening!!……work starts on 8th April
![Goldhanger Village Hall as proposed[1]](http://www.goldhangervillagehall.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Goldhanger-Village-Hall-as-proposed1-1-1-1.jpg)
Street view of the proposed Village Hall entrance
Village Hall Improvement Project Plan
The Village Hall Management Committee is delighted to be able to announce that the Maldon Salt Company has joined our partnership of funding organisations. This means we are now able to plan the physical commencement of the Improvement Project on a sound financial footing. It is incredibly rewarding to know that this company of international acclaim, with its saltworks in the Parish, has recognised the hard work and support of the whole village and the importance of this Project to the wellbeing of the community.
This news comes at the same time as we can announce another two funding partners the Foyle Foundation and most recently the Garfield Weston Foundation. We are delighted that these organisations have joined with us and our other funding partners namely the Big Lottery Fund, Charles S French Charitable Trust, The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation, Fowler Smith and Jones Trust, Goldhanger Parish Council, Essex County Council Community Initiatives Fund and of course Tesco (but frustratingly the result of the Tesco blue tokens vote will only be known later this month).
BUT the financial support of all these organisations for our village project in an incredibly competitive arena has been made possible by the magnificent support of the community of Goldhanger – a BIG THANK YOU to everyone.
We plan to start the building works with our Contractor, Aquanera Construction from Tiptree on 8thApril and expect the work to be finished in August. Watch this space for details of the Official Opening!!
Please note: While scaffolding is being erected and asbestos roof slates are being removed, for Health and Safety reasons, the Permissive Footpath through the grounds of the Village Hall will be closed from and including 23rd April until 10th May and again while scaffolding is being dismantled from and including 4th until 7th Jun
We have notified all hirers of the Hall about restrictions on use. Access from Head Street to and from Marigold Wood via the permissive footpath will be maintained normally although there may be short closures for health and safety reasons.
We will of course keep everyone informed of progress as we go along.
WE’RE IN! Goldhanger Village Hall is now in the Tesco Bags of Help scheme at Maldon Tesco, Danbury Tesco Express & Burnham Tesco Express and awaiting all your blue tokens. If we get the most tokens we will be granted £4,000 for the much needed improvement project. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE support…..Every Little Helps!
More good news… we have received confirmation from Essex County Council Community Initiatives Fund (18/19) awarding us £10,000!!! Good news indeed particularly as they have already pledged £20,000 in 17/18
This brings the funding total to a fantastic £160,000. Further application bids await response.
If you haven’t heard already our Village Hall Improvement Project will be in the local Tesco stores ‘Bags of Help’ scheme in January and February. Please start saving the blue tokens in readiness 🔵 and support your hall. If we get the most tokens we will be awarded £4000.
We have just heard that our Project has been awarded £60,000 by The Big Lottery Fund ( Reaching Communities) !!!!! Our grateful thanks to BLF Funding Officer, Danielle Lawrence, for her guidance and over the last few months. This is an enormous boost to the project bringing us so much closer to our goal.
Tesco Bags of Help
Please also note that in January and February 2019, Goldhanger Village Hall Improvement Project will be in local Tesco stores as one of the Tescos Bags of Help community projects – PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE support your project. If we get the most tokens we will be awarded £4000!
February 2018
It’s always good to start a new year with good news and good news we have had in abundance.
First and with thanks to the support of the village community and our hard working social and fund raising committee, funds raised from events in the Hall in aid of the Project have now risen to £17,000 ! To add to this we have the Indian Supper to look forward to in March which has been a complete sell out and the May Ball as well as the very popular monthly film club, our regular bingo evenings and ….. events lined up for the Autumn.
Our labours in seeking funding were rewarded by the news in January that we have been awarded £20,000 by Essex County Council’s Community Initiatives Fund and we await news of other bids with eager anticipation.
Total funds raised or pledged now total just under £60,000 and we have a clear strategy to raise the remainder.
Although not all funding bids are successful and the road ahead is not going to be without its disappointments, the news since Christmas has added impetus and credibility to the Project and we are now seeking quotations from Architects to develop our scheme so that tenders can be obtained.
December 2017
You should hopefully be aware of our proposals to improve the village hall for the benefit of the whole of the community which we were very pleased to gain planning permission for in March 2017.
The estimated cost plan of about £245,000 is a great deal of money and deserves explanation. The following are professional estimates which of course we hope to reduce as we obtain competitive quotations:
- £131,000 – extension and remodelling to provide modern & accessible toilets and a user friendly entrance foyer
- £4,000 – proper temporary toilets to keep the hall open for our hirers during the work
- £25,000 – to replace the old asbestos slated roof which is prone to leaking
- £4,000 – to replace the old boiler
- £24,000 – allowed for professional fees including an architect and an engineer
- £17,000 – a prudent contingency sum
Then there is a small matter of VAT an estimated bill of £41,000 – as a charity we cannot recover VAT which seems very unfair but that is the law as it stands at the moment.
The Management Committee is working very hard to raise the necessary funds. Currently we have raised £16,000 from events at the Hall which is a terrific achievement and thanks must go to the village for its continuing support. We have received a very generous anonymous donation of £1,000 and grants and pledges from fund granting bodies amounting to £18,000. Decisions are awaited and expected any moment on grant applications totalling £20,000 and by February we are hopeful that we will receive favourable decisions on applications totalling £30,000. Further applications are being prepared for submission totalling £80,000. So we are well on our way but with a long way to go!
Our programme will be reviewed early in 2018 when we will have a better idea of when we will be able to make a start on the actual building work.
We’ll keep everyone up to date as we progress.
We welcome any comments you would like to make about the Village Hall Improvement Project. Please use the comments box below. Thank you.