The Village Hall

Whaddon's Village Hall was actually built in the 19th century as the Village School, and became the Village Hall after the school closed in the 1960s. At that time a modern extension was added to the rear of the building.

The hall is owned by the Parish Council on behalf of the village--along with the neighbouring recreation ground--and is managed by the Village Hall Management Committee. Plans for refurbishment have been approved by the District Council at the end of 2008, and fundraising will begin soon.

The hall is available for bookings made by those in the village and those outside. There is also a Marquee for hire. Interested parties should contact the bookings secretary, Wendy Evans, on 01223 207703.

Follow these links to download copies of the Letting Agreement and Marquee Hire agreement.

How to get to the Hall

The address is 125 Church Street, Whaddon; the postcode is SG8 5RY. To the right is a Google Map of the area:

The Village Hall Management and Fundraising Committee

This committee deals with most matters concerning the day to day running of the hall. Its chairman has to be a member of the Parish Council, but any villager may apply to join when there is a vacancy. The chairman is presently Nigel Strudwick (01223 207434).

The committee meets roughly every two months. Information will be posted on the Village notice boards. Minutes of committee meetings are available on a separate page.

The 2009 Annual Report to the Parish Council, given at the AGM in May, is available here.

The future of the hall

The hall is presently not in the best state of repair. Discussion has gone on for many years as to how to improve it, and things now seem to be at a turning point.

A planning application has been approved by the District Council, and costings for the project must now be finalised so that serious fund-raising can begin. Copies of plans are also available on the present site.

The present intention is that a Charitable Trust be set up to manage the hall, obtaining the right to do that via a lease from the Parish Council. A Trust is believed to be the best way of obtaining enough funds to pay for the proposed work--Parish Councils do not have access to the sources of funding available to charities. At the moment, various legal issues are delaying the implementation of this far more than we would wish.

Effort is now to be concentrated on schemes to fund these proposals. Any villager willing to help will be most welcome!