A FORMER village school house has completed half a century of community service.
The golden jubilee of Wellesbourne Village Hall was recently celebrated with displays from the Wellesbourne Flower Club, Horticultural Society, Photography Group, Dene Valley U3A Bread Making Group, and the Women’s Institute.
The Wellesbourne Local History Group also created a time line of the building’s history, from its humble beginnings as a school house in 1865 until the present day.
In 2012, Walton Estates who owned the hall, wanted to increase the annual rent from £100 to £8,000, putting the future of the hall in jeopardy.
But the parish council bought the hall to secure its future use by the community.
A wide range of groups, from zumba and tai chi classes to photography and flower groups, regularly use the hall, which is also hired out by private parties.
In recent months, the hall has undergone vital repairs which have been made possible by a donation of £60,000 left in the will of an anonymous benefactor. Repairs to the roof and guttering, replacement of the windows and doors and new flooring in the main hall were all possible because of the donation.
Chris Cole, chairman of the management committee, told The Observer: “We’ve now spent £61,500 on improvements in the hall, going into our own funds. We now need to raise funds so we can update the kitchen and re-do the toilets in the building.
“Hopefully the hall will be here for another 50 years.”
