BRADFIELD VILLAGE HALL The History of the Hall

BRADFIELD VILLAGE HALL

The History of the Hall • £ 23/17/6 • Money left over after the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of King George V in 1935 • A Committee formed in 1936 to build a Village Hall • In 1941, Henry Benyon gave “Booker’s Piece” to the residents of Bradfield • The Village Hall opened in 1951, with the main hall and a kitchen where the committee room is now. • The building extended to add the kitchen and storeroom in 1984.

What happens here? • Daily • Sunshine Club • Tennis Court • Playground • Car Parking for the Shop and Primary School • Field

Who uses the building? • Weekly • • • Ballet Bradfield Dog Training Club Bridge Club Monkey Music Street Jazz Tai Chi - Qigong

Monthly Users • • Bradfield Gardening Club Bradfield Parish Council Bradfield WI Saturday Market

The Regulars during the year • Annual Meetings for – Bradfield Southend Village Stores – Berkshire Young Farmers – Parish Assembly • Sachin Trust Quiz Nights • Caravan Rallies

And also…. . • Carey Baptist Church Barbeque • Dog shows • Reading Pigeon Club • Pelham’s Funfair

• Bradfield Events – Mayfayre – Produce Show • Our own Fund Raising Events – Watermill Theatre – Jazz Evening

Why do we want to replace the Hall? • Asbestos • Roof lining ? • Flooring ?

More problems …. . • Guttering • And the ceiling inside

And yet more …. • Porch • Wall

And more …. • Electrics • Heating

And yet more … • Gents Toilets • Cistern • Urinal • Drains

Hard Court • The Hard Court is in a bad state • Tarmac • Fencing • Lighting

Playground • Very well used • 11 years since it was last refreshed • Too near the road • No safe footpath to Hall, Tennis Court or Field

Other Problems • • No accessible toilets for those with disability Kitchen not up to modern requirements Storage is very limited Poor Insulation

Repair v Replace The Costs of Repair to the Building and Grounds • • • Roof and Guttering New Toilets including Disabled Toilet Insulation to current standards Porch Electrics £ 44, 000 £ 16, 000 £ 20, 000 £ 10, 000 • Replace control panels • Rewire through out • Install a sound system £ 15, 000 • New efficient heating system £ 25, 000 • Car Park resurfacing/making safe for pedestrians £ 25, 000 • Total – at least £ 155, 000+

And if we did all of that …. The Hall will be no bigger Multiple events will still be difficult There’ll be no extra storage The car park will be smaller or parking would be on the field • Will we have gained anything? • •

It’s like pouring money into a bottomless pit

What are we here for? • Our Trust Deed states: “The Trust premises shall be held upon trust for the purposes of physical and mental training and recreation…… for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Bradfield … and its immediate vicinity…. . ” • This property exists for the use of those who live in and around Bradfield • We don’t organise events here – just facilitate events

In the Parish Plan in 2008 • 75% of the Parish responded • 66% wanted a new Village Hall • That’s just under half [49. 5%] of Bradfield residents said they wanted a new hall • The Management Committee want to give the residents of Bradfield a facility they can be proud of.

A new Village Hall AND a new Church on Bradfield! Why isn’t there a joint project? This was discussed at length, but … • Building would be huge • Too many current users – little room for expansion • Diocese of Oxford would require exclusive consecrated space for altar • Considerable Legal complexities • Conflict of interest on occasions [eg funeral/zumba] • Many grant funders won’t fund Religious use • Hall = Facilitator Church = Provider

However …. . We are working together – Same Architects • BVH interviewed 6 architects to make decision – Saved by using same surveyors – Helping each other with skills, knowledge and accommodation – Funding from different Sources so won’t compete for same money

Funding the Project How are we going to pay for it?

Cost • Cost in region of £ 1. 75 million • A huge a figure for Bradfield to raise but not impossible ! • Selling off a piece of land for housing would make a significant contribution towards the cost. • Would give credibility to bids to Funding Bodies if we had raised some money ourselves.

Sale of Land • The Sale of Land is permitted by our Trust Deed and there will be a referendum of those living in the Parish before this action is taken • Englefield Trust are aware of our proposals • Is requirement for additional housing locally • Would help the community shortage of lower cost housing.

Other Sources of Funding • • • Our own fundraising events Direct giving Pledges and Loans Grants Already received: – Greenham Common Grant £ 200, 000 • Requires match funding – Englefield Estate £ 4, 000

Other Grants To be applied for after Planning Consent is achieved • The Power to Change Trust – related to the Big Lottery Fund • Sports England • Veolia Environmental Trust • Grundon Landfill Communities Fund • Local Charities

The Process so far … • Feasibility Study in 2012 • Dialogue with users • Project launched last October’s Public Meeting with Indicative Plans • Listened to comments • Reworked plans • Revised plans shown at Public Meeting in May 2015

Next Steps … • Comments and observations from Public Meeting discussed and used to firm up the design • Submission for planning permission in the Summer

NOW is the Time for Change