A structural inspection carried out during 2009 concluded that the WW1 wooden building used as Wereham Village Hall for several generations was structurally unsound and beyond economic repair. As a result, severe usage restrictions were imposed.

An initial investigation into funding possibilities for a replacement hall established that a dedicated team of people, committed to several years of hard work, would be needed if funding for a new hall was to be secured.

During 2012, several village Mums organised a community event for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations, the preparations for which led two Mums to realise what a desperate state the hall was in and to commit themselves to launching a funding bid to the National Lottery. In September 2012, a small Project Team, comprising just Victoria Gray (Chair) and Helen Richardson (Secretary), was established, with the addition, within a year, of John Eastgate as Treasurer and Rachel Barron as Marketing and Fundraising Manager. The following year, the addition of, John Millard completed the team. Although Helen left the Team during January 2016 to pursue other goals, her efforts and continued support for both the Project and the village hall charity have continued and are greatly appreciated.

Also supporting the Project Team has been our hard working management committee – Diane Woolston, Angela Goddon, Doreen Rolph, Helen Richardson, Gail Koopowitz and Ian Rye – which, with the help of volunteers from the Friends of Wereham Village Hall group, spent the next 5-6 years dedicated to the insane level of work required to secure funding for a new building.

Over a period of 2-3 years, consultations with residents, hall users and potential users soon established that our current facilities were not fit for purpose and that new activities and services were needed to improve people’s lives. They also established that the existing site was not big enough to meet our needs, so we looked for other sites in the locality, eventually reaching agreement with the land owner of the adjacent playing field to purchase a plot large enough to meet the project’s needs.

With planning permission in place, we applied to every available UK and EU funder to secure sufficient funding for us to commit to this £1,000,000 project. Finally in mid-2017, with all the necessary funding secured, the build began, with the hall being completed and opening its doors for the first time in June 2018.

The video below, as well as a number of magazine features, were key elements in our successful campaign to secure a new village hall for Wereham.