Report by By Richard Walsh  

Thursday 24th April 2025 7:00 am WSFP

Eight-year project to re-roof Lysaght Village Hall and Club is complete

VILLAGERS in Old Cleeve are celebrating the completion after eight years of a new roof on their Lysaght Village Hall and Club, a much-used and vital community facility.

It was 2017 when they recognised a new roof was needed with the cost put at more than £55,000, a daunting sum to raise.

It is a rare example of a successful community-run facility which has been in existence for more than 100 years and is highly valued by members and local residents of the village and the surrounding area.

The club has continued to grow over the past century and now boasts more than 300 members, providing a range of activities including snooker, skittles, darts, boules, and a quiz league, together with bar and dining facilities for members to enjoy.

The hall is a popular community venue for regular clubs and activities, also a popular venue for weddings, parties, utilising its kitchen and licensed bar facilities.

The driving force behind raising the funding for the new roof was the management committee, along with members of the Old Cleeve Community Hall Committee, who worked together to start a ‘Raise the Roof’ appeal in 2017 with volunteers supporting the campaign within the area.

After the community hall committee retired in 2018, responsibility for the running of the Lysaght Hall was returned to its management committee, which then had the task of raising the money needed to complete all three phases of the project.

On the financial side, Lysaght Management Committee member and trustee Judi Stabb took on responsibility for obtaining grant funding, securing £20,000 from the National Lottery together with additional money, including the Fairfield Trust and the Roger de Haan Trust, which was put toward phases one and two.

Ms Stabb secured a further National Lottery award of £20,000 in 2023 and applied to the Government for a Community Ownership Fund grant of £25,000 in respect of the final phase three work which began in January, 2025.

During the eight-year period, various committee members and volunteers worked together to raise the money for each phase to be completed, with a variety of fund-raising events being held, a phenomenal achievement by everybody involved.

The project was voluntarily managed throughout by Martin Stabb, a retired chartered engineer whose experience proved to be invaluable.

Three different roofing contractors were involved, A J Raucki & Son for the first phase, Parker Roofing for phase two, and finally GC Roofing.

The project’s total cost reached about £101,000, nearly doubling the initial £55,000 estimate given in 2017.

A spokesperson said: “This is now a building and facility of which the local community and its benefactor can be rightly proud.”

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/By Richard Walsh  

Thursday 24th April 2025 7:00 am

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