Sicklinghall Village Hall | celebrating 60 years 1952-2012

It was fitting that in 2012, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, our much-loved Village Hall reached the same landmark.

The BBC’s Domesday Project records the hall’s origins in the following way:

“The idea of a village hall in Sicklinghall was first thought of by a Mr. Fryer in May 1945. It was not until 1952 that the hall was completed at a cost of £3,500 (£1,500 of which was raised by the villagers through jumble-sales, £1,000 was donated by Mr. G.R. Foster and £1,000 was received from the Ministry of Education). It was officially opened in 1953.”

Ida Greaves’ marvellous story of Sicklinghall, ‘The Nook of Sicil’s People’, gives more detail about  J.G. (Johnnie) Fryer, the Committee and the villagers, and their many years of fundraising from the end of World War II to completion of the building in 1952 and its official opening a year later.

Fundraising for improvements

Not surprisingly, by 2012 the 60 year-old hall, the heart of our village, badly needed some TLC to bring it into the 21st Century. For over two years the committee worked tirelessly on plans for improvements to ensure the hall would remain an active, viable and sustainable centre for the whole community, knowing the funds needed for renovations would be significantly more than the £3,500 it took to build the entire hall in 1952!

In March 2013 we presented a detailed application for a grant - known as a 'Biffa Award' - and in December 2013 we received some great news - our plans to refurbish the village hall and to improve its facilities were to be boosted by a £49,980 grant from Biffa Award, a multi-million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through awarding grants to community and environmental projects across the UK.

Achievement of this grant was underpinned by your donations which, together with fund-raising events in the village over the last two years, raised a further £20,000. This enabled us to schedule further necessary improvements to take place alongside the main project. We also received a contribution of £4,920 from Parish Council funds, specifically towards our new terrace.

Our architect had already obtained planning permission for the improvements, so the success of our fundraising gave us the confidence to begin the renovations. Our quantity surveyor opened sealed tenders from four local builders specialising in this type of work. The successful contractor was E-Build, a company that had already worked on several Sicklinghall properties.

We were delighted that the work was completed on time and in budget, earning the contractors praise from the committee, the hall's neighbours, and particularly the resident Playgroup, for their courtesy, care, and attention to detail during the build.

On 10th May 2014 we threw our doors wide for an Open Day, and over 80 villagers came along at various times during the afternoon to see the transformation, backed up by a display of 'before, during and after' photographs of the hall.

The Sicklinghall Parish Council,early in 2015, agreed to provide a grant of £5000 to match fund village hall funds, which has enabled us to fully refurbish and upgrade our kitchen with new fittings and equipment, as well as new flooring and redecoration. This has completed the refurbishment and upgrade of the interior of the hall, creating a very attractive community hall at the heart of Sicklinghall village.