Waresley celebrates opening of refurbished village hall

The scheme was made possible after the project received £33,333 in funding from the FCC Communities Foundation, though the Landfill Communities Fund.

Ingrid Sims, from the hall trustees and management committee, said the building was now much more user-friendly with a proper heating system which was already paying off with new users.

Celebrations to mark the reopening of Waresley Village Hall with (from left) Craig Stafford, Helen Richardson, Martin Sims and Rod Kerr (Image: Ingrid Sims)

She said: “We were very, very pleased and delighted to get the grant and the work could not have been done without it. It is bearing fruit already.”

The refurbishment included the installation of central heating, insulation, improved lighting, replacement windows, restoration of the parquet flooring and redecoration.

Ingrid, who was project manager, said the hall, which was an important community facility, dated back to the 1950s and that little work had been done to it since the 1980s.

She said the building had been cold and not very attractive to users and that plans had been under way to revive it for some years but the cost of refurbishment had been prohibitive for the small community until the grant application was successful.

Work was completed earlier this autumn, having started in the summer and a reopening party was held with special guest Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridge and Peterborough, so that local residents could get to know their new village hall.

Ingrid said: “This project has provided a real boost to the people of Waresley, bringing their much-loved village hall into the 21st Century.

“It’s fantastic that FCC Communities Foundation awarded us this money and that the project has been completed successfully. We are grateful to our builder Richard Sharpe and his colleagues for their hard work and attention to detail.

The Village Hall is looking smart and ready to welcome the community in.”

Richard Smith, FCC Communities Foundation grant manager, says: “It’s wonderful to see something we have funded finally open and ready to make such a difference to community groups across Waresley.

“FCC Communities Foundation is always happy to consider grant applications for projects that benefit local communities and this is a great example of what can be achieved.”