How Neroche got its village hall? How is Neroche Hall maintained? The100 Club Fund raising events Neroche Hall extension and Development  Building work June-Aug 2010

How Neroche got its village hall

Neroche Hall began life in 1849 as St Paul’s Church, the Anglican church for the parish of Bickenhall.  In 1972 it became redundant and was closed.  A group of villagers recognised that it would make an ideal village hall for the community and worked to bring this about.  In 1976 it was purchased and converted into Neroche Hall, the village hall for the civic parish of Neroche. Funds were raised to provide the necessary additional facilities and the car park needed for its new role.  It was officially opened in 1977.  It remains a Grade Two listed building.

Neroche Hall is a resource and focus of activities for the villages and hamlets of Badger Street, Bickenhall, Curland, Orchard Portman, Staple Fitzpaine, Thurlbear, Whitty and Winter Well.  It is a popular venue, well used by the wider community for social and commercial events. 

It is he policy of the Neroche Hall Committee to make the hall as accessible as possible to the community by keeping the hiring charges for its use to a minimum, and also by allowing the hire of equipment for functions held within the parish. 

How is Neroche Hall maintained?

The hall is a registered charity.  It receives no assistance with the cost of maintaining the hall from any statutory or funding body.  Instead there it relies on two sources of income to make up the deficit between income from hiring and the high maintenance cost, namely:

• The 100 Club   This, as its name implies, allows a group of about 100 people to have the chance of winning a cash prize by taking out an annual subscription.  The fee is £15.  There is a monthly first prize of £25 and a second prize of £15, with the prizes increased at Easter, the beginning of autumn and at Christmas time. This is a valuable source of income to the hall.  Why not take out a subscription?  Just contact us by using the form on the Contact us Page or emailing xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

• Fund raising events   The hall runs regular events for the community such as Quiz Nights, barn dances, and the boules match which is held in the car park.  In addition, in conjunction with Take Art, it puts on two or three outstanding performances by visiting national and overseas artists.  All the events are very popular and well attended.  They are also the major source of income for the hall

Neroche Hall Extension and Development.......BUILDING WORK TO START LATE JUNE 2010

The Trustees have embarked upon an ambitious scheme to develop and bring more up to date the facilities of the Hall.

An appeal has been launched to generate £65,000.

The scheme was initially driven by the need to provide much better facilities for users of the hall with disabilities. It was then decided that the best plan was to launch a major scheme to do all the other major developments we had been thinking about at the same time

The essential features of the plan are to provide:

• New toilet facilities for users of the hall with disabilities to brings the hall in line with DDA requirements

• A new access and emergency exit for wheelchair users

• A more attractive entrance to the Hall for all users

Other developments

• To create more room for storage, of which there is currently precious little

• To put in a new and up-graded heating system.

• To modernise and generate more space in the kitchen. This will include a large fridge and commercial dishwasher

The kitchen has not been seriously adapted since the initial development, and the old large boiler is in the kitchen. The new plans would introduce a more economical boiler outside the kitchen area, which will free up a lot more space in the kitchen, and also make it quieter.

We are already indebted to Viridor Credits for a substantial grant; and Neroche Parish Council  for their support, as well as a significant immediate grant and promise of help in the future.
Taunton Deane and Somerset Council Joint Grant Scheme have approved our application and will indicate in March 2010 the size of their award.

 

Latest News on building works.....We intend to start the actual building during late June 2010.If you are considering using the hall for a large function then it is highly unlikely that we can accomodate you between late June and mid August. Please contact the booking secretary via the Contact Us page or phone Alison on 01460 480441

In general our regular users who need the committee room or the hall will be able to use the premises for most of the time although the access will consist of a railed off pathway to a new temporary door at the back of the kitchen. When the loos are being worked on the we will need to close the hall for that period which should only be for a week or so. If you are a regular user please contact one of the committee members to discuss the implications. Use the contact us page and contact either the chairman, the treasurer or the bookings secretary. If you provide your phone number we will contact you as soon as possible.

Table, chair and crockery hire will continue as normal.