Work begins on Village Hall extension and refurbishment in Walton

The project is being funded by a £97,000 Landfill Communities Fund grant from FCC Communities Foundation, £28,800 from the Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund, £9,900 from the National Lottery Community Fund, and further grants from other sources.

The money will be used to build an extension to house new toilet facilities, including those for the disabled, replace the hall floor, improve insulation and install a new infra-red heating system. During early stages of construction, it was found that parts of the existing roof, and the old floor joists, were infested with woodworm, so the scope of the project has been extended. You never know exactly what you will find in a 177-year-old building! Fortunately, additional funding has been secured, and the hall is still due to re-open in May.

Brian Eldred, chair of trustees of Walton Village Hall, Wetherby, is excited that the project is starting to take shape.

He says: “It’s great to see our vision for this vital community facility moving closer to reality. We are extremely grateful for the funding that FCC Communities Foundation, ACRE, the National Lottery and the other funders have given us, and we’re looking forward to opening to the public.”

Richard Smith, FCC Communities Foundation senior grant manager, says: “It’s always nice to see something we have funded start to take shape. We’re delighted to be supporting such a worthwhile project and look forward to it benefitting the many users of Walton Village Hall.”

You can view further details of the project on our website here: https://waltonvillagehallwetherby.org/

FCC Communities Foundation is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community projects through the Landfill Communities Fund

Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund: In May 2022, Defra announced a £3 million Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund to mark Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. The fund is administered by ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England)

The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its new strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030.

As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.

Thanks you to all National Lottery players!

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk