Twenty-six rural village and community halls received between them £500,000 as a legacy from Sedgemoor District Council. A commemorative plaque was handed over to the representatives of the each of the halls on Thursday afternoon, March 16th at a ceremony held at Woolavington Village Hall.
Councillor Duncan McGinty, Leader of Sedgemoor District Council said “As a rural area, we know that the village or community hall is often the heartbeat of that community. From art classes to Zumba, halls host a whole myriad of activities for their communities. We wanted to make sure that we could help our halls in the last days of Sedgemoor District Council, to make sure that they continue to provide such a vital part of life for many residents.”
Sedgemoor wanted to recognise the importance of the network of Community and Village Halls to the communities they serve. Halls provide a range of services and access to community activities that are locally accessible and affordable. These activities bring people together and can address loneliness and isolation. Many hall committees are made up of volunteers who work hard to keep charges affordable. This usually means that whilst routine maintenance costs are generally covered, it is very hard to build up funds for major capital works. That is why a capital fund was created to help halls with works that will improve the use of the halls.
Chairman of Sedgemoor District Council, Cllr Alan Bradford was joined by Portfolio Holder for Communities, Cllr Janet Keen, at the event where they met with Trustees and management members of the village and community halls who have received grants. They commented “This event was a way of Sedgemoor District Council to say a very big, heartfelt, thank you to all those Trustees who, come rain or shine, turn out to make their spaces available to everyone. We also thank the committee of Woolavington Village Hall for their generous gesture of hosting the reception.”
The halls which received the funding are as follows:-
| Hall | Project Details | SDC Grant |
| Ashcott Playing Fields in relation to the Pavilion | Solar Panels on roof of pavilion | £5,800 |
| Berrow Community Association Limited | Solar panels and a battery to use excess supply in evenings | £6,000 |
| Brent Knoll Parish Hall | Installing solar panels and 11.6 KWh battery | £9,588,54 |
| Broomfield Village Hall | Address issues of rising damp from floor, insulate roof, replace windows. | £50,000 |
| East Huntspill New Village Hall | Improve energy efficiency of hall heating and lighting | £8,727.83 |
| Lyng Village Hall | Replace external doors and windows, insulate roof space, deal with rising damp | £6,865 |
| Middlezoy Community Project | Timber frame of hall needs to be repaired and upgraded if new hall is feasible these repairs will be rolled into the project. | £36,200 |
| Moorlinch Church Hall Committee | Improve energy efficiency of main hall, provide extra toilet facilities, and provide more flexible spaces – outdoor covered area and room divider in main building. | £46,330 |
| Nether Stowey Village Hall and Recreation Ground | Relocation and new build of the Stowey Centre to the Recreation Ground owned by the same CIO | £50,000 |
| North Newton Village Hall | To provide a more up to date gents toilet and shower by adding an extension to the building the freed-up space will add more storage capacity too. | £26,672 |
| Othery Village Hall | Refurbish main roof and flat rooves. Install solar panels and battery storage and EV charging. | £28,389 |
| Over Stowey Village Hall and Recreation Ground | Repairing roof, insulating it, and making it structurally sound to reinstall the original bell tower. | £50,000 |
| The Village Hall (Shapwick) | Extend kitchen into ladies toilet to double its size and relocate toilets by extending into the frontage of the building | £17,159.62 |
| Theale Village Hall | Repair the roof, replace windows, doors and floor of the main hall. | £41,609 |
| Village Hall – East Brent | Upgrade insulation and heating to improve energy efficiency and thermal comfort | £6,551 |
| Wedmore Village Hall | Upgrade the Snug including new windows, insulation and upgraded LED lighting to serve as a bar for the performance area | £35,500 |
| Wembdon Village Hall and Playing Fields Trust | Add new wing to village hall as in the original plans to accommodate two sports changing rooms, a storeroom and extend the small kitchenette. Footings already in place. Other match funding applications to the Football, Cricket and Sports Foundations by the local clubs. | £50,000 |
| Westonzoyland Village Hall | Replace all lighting with energy efficient lighting and refurbish the main hall floor. | £8,307 |
| Westonzoyland Village Hall | Updating leaking central heating and water boiler | £7,854.55 |
| Woolavington New Village Hall | Installation of solar panels and battery storage | £8,446.46 |
| Total | £500,000 |
Additionally, other grants paid out to urban and other halls in 2022 via the normal grant scheme were
| Hall | Project Details | SDC Grant |
| Burnham-on-Sea Community Centre | Repair of the roof | £10,000 |
| Cheddar Village Hall | Removing a structural load bearing wall to create two smaller rooms in addition to the man hall. | £10,000 |
| Enmore Memorial Hall | Solar/battery unit for the hall. | £8,530 |
| Highbridge Community Hall | Replacing arched feature window | £4.000 |
| St Georges Newtown, Bridgwater | Repairing the roof and replacing the windows and radiators within the hall. | £10,000 |
| Woolavington Village Hall | Improving the insulation in the hall. | £2298 |
| Totals | £44,828 |