Roof project has ‘brought the community together’
Village of just 300 residents raises more than £30,000 to restore 90-year-old building
A POPULAR village which attracts thousands of visitors every year is celebrating the completion of a new roof on a well used community building.
Local volunteers first came together in January 2018 to start discussions about the need to restore the leaky, asbestos roof tiles at the 90-year-old Hartington Village Hall.
More than £30,000 was raised to fund the project. The community of just 300 residents itself raised £14,000 in just 18 months, through a number of fundraising initiatives including open gardens; supper and auction evenings at the Charles Cotton Hotel; a disco event; and a lottery with a prize total of £1,800.
The trustees were also delighted to receive grant funding of £10,000 from the South West Peak Landscape Partnership supported by The Heritage Fund; £5,000 each from The Duke of Devonshire’s Charitable Trust and The Bingham Trust; and £200 from the Alstonefield Leaden Boot Challenge.
The roof work has now been completed and volunteers are already seeing the benefits, including saving money on energy bills, and more people wanting to use the hall for their community groups and activities.
Keith Quine, chairman of the trustees, said: “After a protracted period of discussions with planners, and a further delay because of covid-19, construction finally started with Ashbrook Roofing and Supplies in July and work was completed late last month.
“It was not without incident, as it was discovered once the tiles had been stripped that the underlying timbers had been badly affected by water penetration, so the decision was made to replace the tongue and groove ceiling boards.
“A Business Interruption grant of £10,000 plus all the reserves had to be committed, to meet the final cost of £44,800.
“The benefits have been considerable. Not only does the village hall now have a robust roof, but also the community has come together so closely to support the huge project.
“We’ve seen more volunteers assisting with cleaning, painting and decorating; and more than 100 local people subscribed to the annual lottery, with fundraising events being exceptionally well attended. Without the match funding raised by the community we could not have secured the grant awards that we did.
“The project has served to bring the community together and show the initiative, creativity and resilience needed to make things happen.
After a prolonged closure due to the pandemic, the hall is now starting to welcome groups back. Find out more at hartingtonvillagehall.co.uk.