New roof for the Wood Dalling Village Hall

Aim

Our project is to raise £15,000 to refurbish the roof of the Village Hall for the continued enjoyment of the Hall for generations to come.

Wood Dalling

 The village of Wood Dalling is located 8 miles south of the market town of Holt, 3 miles north of the market town of Reepham and 17 miles from the City of Norwich.  Its civil parish represents an area of 3.82 square miles and per the 2011 census has a population of 209 across 91 households.  There is very little in the way of second home owners in the village. 

 It is, though, a geographically sprawling village with most of its dwellings surrounded by farmland.  More critically it sadly no longer has a pub, nor a village shop and over the last year the vicar at Wood Dalling church, St Andrews, has moved on and has yet to be replaced.  The church remains empty.

Wood Dalling Village Hall

The Hall has been operating since June 1959 when the owners of the land at nearby Salle gave the land to the people of Wood Dalling on the basis that there is always a village hall/community space on the site.  

COVID-19 naturally adversely affected the level of activities at the Hall.   Since then the committee has endeavoured to bring the Hall back to its former life and very recently the composition of the committee has materially changed as new folk have joined the village.  This has clearly brought about reinvigorated interest in the Hall, its utility and its upcoming events.

 There is a strong community spirit within the Village and currently the only place that locals can meet is at the Hall.  The demographic of the Wood Dalling inhabitants is extremely varied and multi-generational.  The Hall is a vital meeting place (with good parking) for us all to keep an eye on the older element preventing their social isolation.

 The main fabric of the current Hall was built over 40 years ago and whilst ongoing maintenance and repairs have been attended to as and when required, the felt covered roof of the Hall now needs to be fully replaced.  Some water ingress has also adversely affected some of the aging lighting circuits and fittings which will also need attending to before we can really rent the Hall out to third parties.

The Hall does not currently have sufficient of its own existing funds to repair the roof.  The funds it does have will need to be used in the coming 24 months to build up and promote the use of the Hall so that it can again generate surplus funds each year.   The new committee has only been in place for a short period and already they have accelerated the number of upcoming events, enhanced the social media awareness and messaging – all with wider appeal across Wood Dalling’s diverse community. Events both previously and upcoming include film nights, coffee mornings, quiz nights, harvest festival and Easter fetes etc.   

 Without any other natural gathering place (pub, shop, church) Wood Dalling Village Hall is a key hub for the people of the community – young and old.   The committee members are all committed to keeping the Hall going and deliver the string of activities that can take place for the community within the Hall and its immediate environs.  But clearly the roof will need to be fully repaired to ensure the longevity of the Hall and that it is fit for purpose and safe so it can be used now and for future Wood Dalling inhabitants.

All the people of Wood Dalling would be eternally grateful for your support. 

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made