Hurst Green village hall hosting party to celebrate refurb

A fundraising campaign has raised nearly £300,000 to bring Hurst Green’s War Memorial Hall into the 21st century, through a mix of grants and the parishioners’ own fundraising efforts.

Works have included retiling the roof, installing ground-source heating, re-equipping the kitchen, installing a new bar, redecorating the hall with oak panelling, upgrading the toilets, fitting a chairlift for disabled access, installing double-glazed windows, and refurbishing the changing rooms for the village’s football club.

The hall, in Avenue Road, was self-built by villagers in the 50s and 60s and had started to show its age.

A new bar was one of the many changes in the hall (Image: Peter Butterfield)

Niall McFarlane, chairman of the village hall committee, said: “We held a consultation with the parishioners to work out what was the best plan for the hall.

"We put forward all sorts of ideas – even the possibility of demolishing the hall and rebuilding elsewhere, but there were a lot of obstacles to this, not least opposition from many parishioners.

“Finally, it was decided to refurbish the hall to make it fit for purpose again.

"The biggest issue was the heating – in winter it was really cold and draughty – but the roof was the most pressing problem. The concrete was deteriorating and leaking in places so we decided that it should be the priority.

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“The heating was phase two which, I am pleased to say, has been fantastically successful and the hall, although rather large, is now warm and cosy whatever the weather outside.

“Initially, when we roughly costed the plans and informed the parishioners that we were looking at raising £300,000, there were many who said it could not be done.

"Well, thanks to our two sterling grants gurus, Barbara Herd and Margaret Carrington, who have put in a staggering amount of work to source grant funding, we have done it.”

New curtains were sourced for the stage (Image: Peter Butterfield)

A total of £73,300 was raised for the roof, £137,700 for the heating, £15,000 for the changing rooms, £47,500 for the kitchen, toilets and Jubilee Room, £21,700 for the windows, and £2,300 for the chairlift.

The electrics, new bar, new ceiling, new curtains, and windows were financed from the hall’s own funds.

To mark the end of the massive effort, a special free function is to be held in the hall in November to which all parishioners will be invited. Food and entertainment will be provided along with a free glass of wine.

Mr McFarlane continued: “We wanted to mark the end of the project with a thank you to the community who have supported us so well. The Memorial Hall is now one of the premier community venues in East Lancashire.”

More details about the event will be released closer to the time.