Village hall needs clearing and care (From The Oxford Times)

Work will benefit community

1:00pm Monday 21st January 2013 in News By Emma Harrison, Reporter covering Rose Hill, Littlemore and Iffley. Contact me on 01865 425430

VOLUNTEERS are needed to help spruce up a 93-year-old hall over the next year.

Maggie Willis, of the Littlemore village hall committee said people were needed to help with jobs ranging from cleaning to painting and also gardening in the summer.

The Edwardian hall in Railway Lane, which has a stage, kitchen and toilets, was built in 1919, with the money needed to build it raised by villagers.

Miss Willis said: “I really believe in the need for the community to have a good hall. So much good can come from it and so many people can benefit.”

Helpers are being asked to volunteer for two hours every month. She added: “The hall has been used for years and we certainly want to clear out under the stage, so we can use it for new storage.

“The clearance is one thing, but eventually there will be small painting jobs and cleaning windows. “And when it gets warmer, we want to rebuild the barbecue and the garden.

“We want to make sure that we continue to improve the facilities and make sure things are clean and comfortable.”

In the past three years, the hall has had new heating installed and a new roof fitted.

Miss Willis added: “Last year a couple of people started making some nice flowerbeds across the front of the hall – there will be things like that to do.

“Really it will vary from one month to the next.

“Just two hours in a month, if people can volunteer that, then that’s fantastic.”

The hall is used regularly by two youth groups, the village band music group, dog behaviour classes, dance schools and a bingo group.

There are also regular bookings at weekends for birthday parties. Miss Willis said the use of the hall had increased in the last 12 months .

She said: “Instead of only having the hall used once on some evenings, we now usually have a function on both nights at the weekend.

“From Monday to Friday it used to be used some evenings. “But now it’s used three nights a week and two sessions each night.

“It’s nice that it’s being used.”

The next clearing session is on Saturday from 9 am to 11am.

The work cost about £29,000, including about £5,000 to replace the central heating and about £24,000 to repair the roof. It was funded through a £2,600 grant from the Oxford City Council’s South East Area Committee for the central heating and a £10,000 Lottery grant, matched by the city council, for the roof. Other grant bodies also contributed. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Miss Willis by emailing mrw1@btinternet.com Hall bookings can be made by calling 01865 432911.