VILLAGE HALL NEWS

CAN YOU HELP US?

The hall was built almost 30 years ago with a huge input from the local community. We have found that there is still much to be done and would like to ask if you could be tempted to go onto a list of willing volunteers who could be called upon from time to time to help with renovation, gardening, events, mail shots etc. This is not to ask you for any regular commitment, but just a willingness to help out when a need arises. If you feel you could be persuaded to help, could you let us know by forwarding your name, email address, postal address and any particular skills to Nigel Drane, 21 Southwold Rd., Wrentham, NR347JE.  or e-mail: ndrane9562@aol.com

It would be tremendously useful if you had particular skills (or equipment) that could be of help to the hall ( eg. gardening, cooking, building, fund raising, entertaining, event organising).                                                                                                                

At the moment we are looking into the possibility of a film club, a couple of music events and a Harvest supper this year, so please watch the Wrentham Village web pages for news.  

VOLUNTEERS

A band of volunteers has re-decorated the corridors, games and reading room, also the bar, toilets and kitchen. The toilet sinks and surrounds have been renovated. Outside redecoration has started, but halted now, because of the bad weather. The fencing along both sides of the run has been upgraded, many dips in the car park have been levelled, and a recurrent problem with the toilets and drains has been diagnosed and cured. The grass and hedges have been maintained by George Buckenham, with some extra time from the volunteers.

The Floor of the main hall has been completely stripped back to bare wood and relined for badminton, before extensive re-varnishing.

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NEWS 2021

We have opened up the hall for all users to return asking that they give consideration to advice about face masks, social distancing, hand sanitising and venue ventilation. Everything has been going well and only Pilates has not returned, however there is a new keep fit group on Wednesday evening. Film nights have not restarted as we thought we might try in September, but as that time drew near it looked as if there would be further Covid issues, so we have delayed our restart until April 2022 – regulations permitting. It didn’t seem sensible to start again in the mid winter. Something now to look forward to.

We have times to book out and if you are interested please ring Maureen on 01502 676151

We are nearing the end of our refurbishment programme with a new kitchen, heating system, lighting, main hall floor surface, acoustic tiling, re decoration and internet access.

Sadly one of our members died earlier this year and another is now very ill. Nuala worked hard over many years on the committee to keep the hall going and provided drive and initiative. Chris joined us more recently and was instrumental in running the film nights, having the technical knowledge we needed. Thank you to both of them for helping make this hall a great success.

NEWS 2020 

 This year started off brightly ( including our cinema reaching an average of 50+ per screening) but then like everyone else we had to close down due to Covid 19. However we are having regular meeting and are looking for ways to start up again. We have a flu clinic booked for 21/10/20 when we can see how our preparations stand up to the reality of a big booking.

 Last autumn we had the acoustic tiles fixed to our ceiling and walls with  fantastic effect. We are exceedingly pleased with the difference they have made to the acoustics in the main hall and would dearly love to be able to make more use of this change!

 We have replaced all of our halogen heaters with “ far-infra red heaters “ which work in a similar way but without any light emission; we can now look forward to warm cinema evenings, even in winter.

 If you want to hire the hall, it may be possible soon for limited events. Contact us.

NEWS 2019

We have just completed the re decoration of the main hall in preparation for the installation of acoustic tiles. These tiles should reduce the echo in the hall which in turn will make conversations easier to hear for some of our visitors and improve the sound for the film nights. We hope that this will also help with live music. We will be looking at no-glow infra red heating to see if it can be used to replace our current red glow halogen heaters. If the demonstration in November goes well, we hope to proceed with it in the next few months or possibly by the end of 2020; it all depends on funding.

The committee works hard to reduce costs by doing as much work as possible themselves and we have been grateful too, for other members of the village coming in to help and making a big difference

 

NEWS 2018 

The best news so far this year is the completion of our new kitchen with the help of the Lottery Fund and Tesco’s community fund. Last year we were able to establish our regular cinema activity by purchasing our own projectors and screens with the help of “Time for Tea”, Wrentham Parish Council, The Adnams Charity, The Sole Bay Lions and with a big contribution from the British Film Institute.

 

As we add to the hall and improve its facilities, we find that its use continues to increase. This year we will replace the stage curtain and replace the carpet in the entrance lobby, corridor and games room and we will upgrade our lighting in the main hall. We are looking for funding to allow us to improve the acoustics of the hall and also to develop surround sound. There are numerous other smaller projects which we hope will improve any visit that anyone cares to make to our hall.

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1)Films in the Village Hall (Suspended at the moment due to Covid.)

The village hall now has 2 screens available to use. The one in the main hall is 160" and the one in the games room is 120". We have a projector that will be available for hire for the games room where you could hold an event for about 30 people. For the main hall you would have to source your own projector, but we hope that in the near future, we will be able to raise enough funds to buy our own which we could then hire out.

Wrentham Village Hall Cinema has started its first season of films. This will be a regular feature on the last Saturday of the month. Doors will open at 7pm for a film to start at 7.30pm.

There will be a chance to have a drink and a chat with others before the performance.

If you are able and willing, we would appreciate a donation towards our costs.

The films to be shown can be found at whatson@wvhc.org.uk  An automatic email reply will be sent to you.

We look forward to seeing you there.

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