STEWKLEY gets back its village hall later this week, rejuvenated after a quarter of a million pound face lift providing a smart new entrance and entrance hall, toilets, cloakroom area and kitchen.

Villagers have achieved the almost impossible, seven years after launching the task and twice being turned down for a major lottery grant.

They raised more than £70,000 by holding fund-raising events and receiving personal and local company donations.

Other funding sources were the Landfill Communities Fund schemes and grants from Aylesbury Vale District Council and Stewkley Parish Council.
The National Lottery awarded a £10,000 contribution to the fitting out of the new kitchen. A further award, from the family magazine Candis, is funding the purchase of new kitchen equipment, crockery and cutlery.

The extension was designed by architects Acanthus Clews, of Banbury. Principle contractors were Tofield Ltd, of Bletchley. Site foreman Pete Cowell and his son, Dean, have worked throughout the 22-week project, except for a few days after Pete was taken ill and rushed from the site by ambulance to hospital.

Much support was offered by Bucks Community Action, which assists rural communities and village halls throughout the county.

Villagers themselves have voluntarily undertaken some of the work. Geoff Ring, a member of the Village Hall Project Committee, and his brother, Bob, have carried out the kitchen fit-out, and Richard Mayne, of Dunton Road, undertook the safety administration work required of organisations commissioning building projects. Together their contributions in kind are estimated to have saved the village £12,000.
The project has seen the main entrance moved from the side to provide an imposing portico facing the High Street that includes a new village clock above the main doors. One villager provided the clock as an individual donation. The main hall and Billiard-room have been re-decorated from floor to ceiling but remain essentially as they were when the hall was built.

The village hall is "home" to a number of organisations including the Stewkley Players theatre group, the Short Mat Bowls Club, the Badminton Club, the Women's Institute and Mother and Toddler group. It is the meeting place for the parish council and hosts many individual events each year such as dance evenings, dinner dances, flower shows, Sunday lunches, jumble sales, private parties and events.

The first public event will be the official opening by the MP for Buckingham, John Bercow, on Wednesday (October 1) at 8.30pm. Villagers are invited to visit the hall to take a look around from 8.15pm.
John Flewin, Chairman of the Project Committee, said: "The re-opening of the hall will be culmination of seven years of hard work and effort from a lot of people. We ended up wasting around two years and quite a lot of money pulling together applications for funding, mainly to the National Lottery, to no avail. It is a tribute to everyone involved that, in the end, we got there.

"I would like to personally thank our main financial supporters, WREN, Biffaward, Aylesbury Vale District Council and Stewkley Parish Council for their help and support."

Jill Scott, Chairman of the Village Hall's Fund-raising Committee, said: "There has been tremendous support from the village for this project and we hope everyone will be pleased with the improved facilities at the hall. Thank you to all who have made contributions to fund the work. However the venture would never have come to fruition without the dedication and hard work of the members of the Project Committee."

Stewkley Village Hall is a registered charity and it is available for hire as a whole, or in part, by the hour or by the day, with or without kitchen, with or without crockery and cutlery. Telephone: (01525) 240758.