The Covington Amenities Committee

Newsletter

This document was circulated to residents in March 2003

The Covington Amenities Committee is writing to let you know about the progress made on the Village Hall Project and what remains to be done before the whole thing can be completed.

The Covington Amenities Committee exists primarily to promote the social and community life of the village with a particular empasis on the amenities available in the village for the use of the residents.

To that end, our main focus at the moment is to provide a suitable central meeting point for the residents. For many years this meeting point has been the Old School, but this building had been in a very poor state of repair. Since 1997 we have been conducting a project to restore the Hall to a fit state for the residents and significantly improved the facilities available within it. Specfically, we now have a kitchen area and toilets!

Read more about the rebuilding project.

The building work is now almost complete, including the plumbing, the electrics, and the heating system. Over the last couple of months, the toilets have been installed, and the structural work on the kitchen finished. That so much progress has been made is thanks to the widespread support, financial and practical, from so many people in our community. The main jobs still left are the fitting out of the kitchen, adding additional furniture and utensils, the rebuilding of the chimney, the building of a store for the safekeeping of our furniture and equipment, and works outside the Hall - the patio, hard standing for car parking, the front path, and so on. Of these, easily the most urgent is the kitchen - when that is equipped and working, the Hall really will be fully operational, and facilities will be available for a much wider range of uses. The chimney and the store also are important. The outside works can be phased over the somewhat longer period, and are areas where a lot of progress can be made by our own efforts. Our top priority therefore is now to find the finance for remaining stages, and in particular for the first tranche, which has been identified as the completion of the kitchen and the rebuilding of the chimney at a cost of something over £4000. The Committee are accordingly writing to ask for your help with this.

There are a number of ways you can help:

1. By a financial contribution, on which we can get the benefit of Gift Aid - the money raised attracts a further 28% from the Inland Revenue. (A gift of £100 produces £128 for the Hall).
2. By gifts in kind - by way, for example, of equipment for the Hall, or materials for the remaining construction work, (Offers have already been made to dig out the car park and to repair the fence).
3. By offering your own time and expertise to help with those elements of the work that are suitable for DIY - as a lot have already proved to be, and more are planned.
4. By organising fund raising events in aid of the Village Hall funds.
5. By hiring the Hall for your own personal events or meetings ? the rates are very reasonable, and every penny over and above the actual costs incurred will go into the building funds. A special low rate may be available for small events.

The Committee hope you will feel able to support the completion of the Hall in one or more of these ways. If you do wish to make a contribution, please complete the form enclosed, and return it to the address given.

Great progress has been made so far now, and the Hall is already proving such a success, that it would be a shame if the final stages had to be delayed for want of resources.

With many thanks,
Richard Brown
Chairman, Covington Amenities Committee.

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