Village hall installs hearing loop with district council support

A HEARING loop is being installed in Bicknoller Village Hall thanks to financial support from West Somerset Council.
The hall committee has received a grant of £649.35 from the council’s much-praised Rural Initiative Fund to help with the cost of the project, which totalled £865.80.
The loop will help local residents or visitors to the hall listen and take part in community events held in the hall.
The hall can accommodate up to 200 people and also has a committee room with a capacity of 50 people, and is used for a variety of activities including local dramatic productions, meetings of the Women’s Institute, the village flower show, table tennis, charity fund-raising events, and community group activities.
District council ward member, Councillor Barbara Child presented the cheque to hall secretary Mrs Mary Ter Braak.
Councillor Child said: “It gives me great pleasure to support and encourage the initiatives of my parishioners.
“This is yet another successful venture that benefits the community and is a good example of what the Rural Initiative Fund was designed to assist.”
The Rural Initiatives Fund makes available grants of up to £10,000 to help community groups start new initiatives which will benefit residents in rural areas of the district.
It is aimed at voluntary community organisations and parish and town councils, which can qualify for funding by helping the district authority meet its objective of ‘providing a good service to the community’.
More information about the fund is available from the council’s rural facilitator Angela Lamplough on 01984 63531 or email at alamplough@westsomerset.gov.uk.

• Our photograph shows (left to right) Kees ter Braak, Councillor Barbara Child, Clive Raisey, and Mrs Mary ter Braak.
  Photo submitted.

New kitchen is finishing touch for village hall

THE final stage of the refurbishment of Timberscombe Village Hall has been completed with the installation of a fully-equipped kitchen.
It includes two ovens and a commercial dishwasher, meaning the hall is now able to cater for a wide variety of public and private functions, including weddings and parties.
Timberscombe Village Hall Committee thanked West Somerset Council’s Rural Initiative Fund for a grant of £7,749 which made the project possible, and H.D.Lynch, of Minehead, for designing and fitting the kitchen to a high standard.
District council ward member, Councillor Roger Webber said: “The council is delighted to help community projects like these.
“As well as providing modern facilities so that halls can build on their successes, it also gives local people a social centre at the heart of their rural villages.”

• Our photograph shows village hall committee chairman Tony Webb (left) and former chairman Mrs Wendy Hellewell receiving a cheque for £7,749 from Councillor Roger Webber. Photo submitted.