A NORFOLK community had cause to celebrate this weekend after being awarded nearly half a million pounds of lottery funding for a new village hall complex.
A NORFOLK community had cause to celebrate this weekend after being awarded nearly half a million pounds of lottery funding for a new village hall complex.
The new modern, environmentally-friendly building at Hopton, near Yarmouth, will cater for the needs of people in the village and the wider community.
Hopton village hall management committee said it was pleased to announce that its application to the Big Lottery Fund for financial assistance to build the new complex had been successful.
The committee said that following 18 months of hard work which involved putting together a comprehensive business plan, a lottery grant of �484,842 had been awarded to the project.
In addition, Yarmouth Borough Council has pledged support of �50,000 towards the project and the village hall committee has raised funds of more than �60,000 so far.
The project will cost around �815,000 and further fundraising events will take place over the coming months.
The new village hall complex will have one large hall to accommodate 150 people, one small hall to accommodate up to 48 people, a kitchen, office, storage room and modern toilets.
There will also be better parking facilities.
The committee said that once the building is complete there will be many new educational and sporting related activities, particularly for people aged between 20 and 50, and the halls will be available for private hire.
The project has received outline planning permission and a technical team is preparing working drawings and tender documents.
It is envisaged that the first phase of construction will start in October with completion by August 2010.
Mike Butcher, chairman of the village hall committee, said: “I
am delighted that the hard work of the committee has been rewarded with such brilliant news from the Big Lottery Fund.
“It will be great to have a wonderful new environmentally-friendly building to cater for the needs of the people in Hopton and the wider community.”
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