Our village hall was opened in 1952 as a Thanksgiving Memorial to the men and women who served in the Second World War and built for the benefit of the residents of Great Barton and its surrounding area. The building, constructed using conventional bricks and roof tiles, originally consisted of a main hall, small kitchen annex, two small changing rooms, entrance foyer and toilets. Before the start of our building programme the hall was very basic, cold and damp and in need of urgent refurbishment.

We identified a number of good reasons why we needed to refurbish and expand the size of the building

• The roof was structurally unsafe
• The financial position was not good
• The number of activities taking place was very small
• There was the danger that the hall would close
• We wanted to provide good facilities at local level
• We could see what other communities had done

In 2001 a large scheme to extend and refurbish the hall was submitted to the National lottery Community Fund but was eventually rejected. At that time there was an urgent need to replace the roof over the main hall as it had become structurally unsafe. In 2001 I offered to manage a project, phasing building the work over a number of years. I planned that full funding for a particular phase of work would be secured before any work could start. Having completed one phase we could move on to the next one. By phasing the work in this way we have managed to enlarge and refurbished the entire building, providing an energy efficient building with excellent facilities for a wide range of activities used by the community and the surrounding area.

Current Position – Jan 2014 

Phase 0

The main hall roof was replaced at a cost of £30,000

Completed in November 2002 with funding from:

• St Edmundsbury Borough Council
• Local Fundraising

Phase 1

The Kitchen Annex, including a new entrance foyer and accessible toilet, was built at a cost of £75,000

Completed in August 2004 with funding from:

• St Edmundsbury Borough Council
• Suffolk County Council
• Suffolk Environmental Trust
• Great Barton Parish Council
• Awards for All
• Local Fundraising

Phase 2

The Community Meeting Room and refurbished toilets were provided at a cost of £89,000

Completed in September 2005 with funding from:

• DEFRA’s Rural Development Programme
• Local Fundraising

Phase 3

The Changing Room Annexe was extended and refurbished, providing 3 changing rooms and entrance lobby with toilets, at a cost of £84,200

Completed in August 2007 with funding from:

• Suffolk County Council       
• St Edmundsbury Borough Council
• Havebury Housing Partnership
• Suffolk Environmental Trust
• The Clothworkers Foundation
• Garfield Weston Foundation
• Great Barton Parish Council 
• Local Fundraising      -                 

Phase 4

The main hall was refurbished in January 2008 to provide a quality wood floor, redecoration and upgraded lighting at a cost of £6,300.

Completed in January 2009 with funding from:

• The Community Aggregates Fund  (COMMA)
• Local Fundraising

Phase 5

A new Social Annexe, alongside the main hall, was constructed at a cost of £76,300.

Completed in September 2009 with funding from:

• St Edmundsbury Borough Council   
• Havebury Housing Partnership
• Suffolk Environmental Trust
• Suffolk County Council       
• Great Barton Parish Council           
• Local Fundraising

Phase 6

The installation of 2 renewable energy schemes – a ground source heat pump and solar photovoltaic panels at a cost of £76,000.

Completed in July 2010 with funding from;

• Low Carbon Building Programme Phase 2  
• Community Sustainable Energy Programme
• Green Suffolk Fund 

Phase 6A

Providing car park lighting and resurfacing at a cost of £9,000

Completed in December 2010 with funding from:

• Great Barton Parish Council    
• Local fundraising                         

Phase 7

Modifications to provide new entrance to annexe at a cost of £26,000.

Completed August 2011 and funded from village hall funds and local fundraising.

Phase 8

The provision of a new foyer and improved access at a cost of £75,000

Completed in September 2014 with funding from:

• St Edmundsbury Borough Council
• Suffolk County Council
• Garfield Weston Foundation
• Bernard Sunley Foundation
• Suffolk Environmental Trust
• Great Barton Parish Council
• Great Barton Luncheon Club
• Great Barton Film Night
• Footballers Charity Shield
• Local fundraising and donations

A ventilation scheme with a heat recovery feature was also been installed in the main hall at a cost of £21,000.

Completed in August 2014 with funding from;

• St Edmundsbury Borough Council
• Suffolk Community Foundation
• Big Lottery Awards for All   
• Local fundraising

PT  8.9.14