Village hall bid gets further boost from housebuilder

Plans to redevelop the village hall in Scothern have been given a further cash boost by Chestnut Homes.

The Spirit of Scothern has received another £10,000 donation from the Lincolnshire housebuilder, as the group looks at plans on how to revitalise the 60-year-old building.

Since starting work on The Grange development in the village in 2016, Chestnut Homes has contributed a total of £30,000 towards the village hall project.

The Spirit of Scothern group is hoping to raise enough funds to gain access to a government grant in order to rebuild the hall.

An additional £100,000 is needed to support a bid for the grant, and the group will be putting on numerous fundraising events throughout the year.

Steve Taylor, chairman of the Spirit of Scothern, said: “It is the group’s aim to rebuild the old village hall and modernise its sports facilities up to Sport England standards.

“The final donation from Chestnut Homes is a big boost at this stage and it takes our funds up to £60,000.

“We’re putting together a business plan to support a government grant bid, but if we miss our target we will look at refurbishing the hall rather than rebuilding it.

“There’s a lot of public support for this project and people are eager to get involved in any way they can. This year we’re hoping to organise up to 20 fundraising events to help us meet our goal.

“By the end of 2018 we hope to know which course of action we can take, whether that’s a complete rebuild or refurbishment.” 

Plans to redevelop the village hall were first drawn up by the Spirit of Scothern in 2014.

Mr Taylor added: “The team at Chestnut Homes have been major supporters of the project since they started building in the village and their donations have gone a long way to getting us towards our fundraising target.”

David Newton, Managing Director of Chestnut Homes, said: “Scothern Village Hall is in desperate need of repair, and we’re proud to be supporting the Spirit of Scothern’s efforts to rebuild it. 

“We look forward to seeing the plans the group puts forward and I would encourage people to get behind this project, which will be of great benefit to the village.”