jacey | What a Week

I've probably blogged about our village hall before. For the last seven months it's been closed for renovations - actually more a complete rebuild. Only three of the previous walls still exist and they've been wrapped around completely by extensions. Instead of a hall that measures only 15 ft wide by 45 ft long we now have a space 25 ft wide by 45 ft long with more natural light coming into it. In addition we have new loos, including facilities for the disabed, a pair of outdoor store rooms, a new small meeting room and bar area, an upstairs office and store and a whopping great commerical quality kitchen that just scored 30/30 on its hygiene test. The whole thing has been done with the aid of a Big Lottery Fund grant and several smaller grants and in total cost about £360,000.

It's been a dream for ten years. For the last three years it's been a project and with the commencement of building work it became a nightmare. However today it became a reality.

We are now open for business.

http://www.birdsedgevillagehall.co.uk - No new pics up there yet (just the old hall) but new pics coming soon.

And that's what I've been doing for the wnole of the last week or two: painting, cleaning, tidying, shopping for coffeemakers (and coffee) and (today) making the buffet for the opening party and chatting up the mayor and the grant fuinders. Tomorrow we open our doors to the public for an open day. More buffet-food to make and more making nice wioth folks who may well say: I wouldn't have done that if I were you...

Thankfully the comments today were full of phrases like: 'Marvellous,' and 'I wouldn't have recognised the old place,' and, 'What a difference. Brilliant!'

We are mightily pleased.