National Lottery Community Fund awards £250,000 to Barrowden Village Hall

Work to demolish and rebuild a village hall can get underway after a Lottery grant of £250,000 was approved.

The National Lottery Community Fund has given the grant to those behind the plans for Barrowden Village Hall, which will put together with a Government grant of £300,000 and several other smaller grants.

The current dilapidated building will be demolished next month and construction will start on a new village hall.

Paul Diver, chairperson of the Village Hall Development Group, said everything up to this point has been made possible by support from the village, the parish council and neighbouring organisations.

Valerie Fraser, chairperson of the Barrowden Village Hall CIO, said: “After 10 years in the planning, it is a great privilege to have been involved with the hard-working team of trustees, past and present who can now see their way clear to preserving our vital community facilities for the long-term future. We still have more work to do to ensure that the building is inclusive and sustainable and that it will be a lasting legacy to the communities of the future.”

Rutland MP Alicia Kearns added: “After supporting Barrowden Village Hall Development Group’s successful community ownership bid by raising it with the Government, I am delighted that with the National Lottery money the team now have enough funding to start construction.

“Their journey has by no means been easy, with covid forcing initial plans back to the drawing board, but thanks to the team’s hard work and strong community spirit their exciting vision will now come to life later this year.”