The village hall is a very important community asset, providing a venue for a very wide range of activities and events. These include sports clubs, HADAC coffee mornings and luncheons, dancing, folk music, fitness classes, roller skating, blood donor sessions, antique fairs, craft fairs, flower & vegetable shows and as a venue for meetings held by clubs, societies, churches and the parish council.
Management of the village hall is overseen by a registered Charitable Trust (Registration No. 300274) which exists "to manage the village hall at Haddenham for the benefit of the local community."
Although the Charity Commission website may not be fully up-to-date, it currently lists the Haddenham Village Hall Trustees as:
- Margaret Aston
- John Heydon
- Ian Parkinson
- Linda Bamford
- Susan Geenes
- Anthony Vine
On a day-to-day basis, the village hall is administered and looked after by a management committee on behalf of the Charitable Trust. This committee is chaired by John Heydon and hall bookings are administered by Sue Parkinson (Tel: 01844 291276; Mob: 07739 405474; email: suevh@hotmail.co.uk).
In recent years the village hall has been upgraded to incorporate external cladding designed to improve the hall's heat retaining properties and provide a more comfortable environment during the colder months of the year. There have also been recent upgrades to the lighting in the main hall and the reception / lounge area, which have delivered much more contemporary looking and well-lit spaces.
Unfortunately, there have also been concerns expressed in recent times that some important repair and maintenance work has not been conducted in an adequately rapid or timely manner.
Your own perspective on the way the village hall is managed will doubtless vary according to your personal experiences, but there would be little disagreement about the important role the hall plays as a community asset.
With this in mind, local residents are warmly invited to attend the Village Hall AGM, which is taking place this Wednesday evening 25th May, in the village hall (of course!) beginning at 8.00pm.
The agenda is attached – click on the PDF below the image
