The Monxton and Amport Village Hall

The Past. The Monxton Village Hall was built in 1968 and for the last 35 years has served the villagers of Monxton very well, but like some of us, it is showing the effects of the ageing process. Whether it is the wear and tear on the Hall, the lack of modern facilities or the need for more comfortable seating, it is a fact of life that some past and present users of the Hall have gone in search of more desirable venues in which to hold their events.

The Present. During the last twelve months we have lost three of our major sources of income (Line Dancing, Play Group and Band Practice) and that has placed a question mark over the future viability of the Hall. The annual operating and maintenance cost for the Hall is a little over £3500 and in eight of the last eleven months the income from Hall bookings has fallen below the average of £300 per month that is required to meet those costs. Fortunately a small band of volunteers have put on a number of special events during those months that have made up that short fall in income.

We need to generate more regular hall booking income to ensure the future of the Hall, but a recent questionnaire sent to every home in Monxton showed that only a third of the Monxton residents had any interest in the Hall remaining open. So we need to broaden the potential user group for the Hall. We asked Amport Parish Council if they had any objection to the Hall being renamed "The Monxton and Amport Village Hall" with the ultimate objective of persuading more people from Amport to use the Hall. The Amport PC have agreed to this as long as it does not impose any obligation on the Amport finances.

Changing the name of the Hall is the easy part, the greater challenge is to persuade the good people of Monxton and Amport to adopt it as a village hall for both communities and to use the Hall on a regular basis.

The Future. We do have plans to upgrade the facilities and to provide more comfortable seating. More than £10,000 has been raised towards the estimated improvement costs of £40,000. The remaining money can be obtained from various community grants, but before proceeding with the application for those grants we need to be sure that we can attract more regular bookings for the Hall. It would be unwise to go ahead with a £40,000 improvement project if we cannot be reasonably sure of being able to meet our annual operating and maintenance costs over the next five or six years.

We are planning to hold the Hall Management Annual General Meeting at the end of June or early July when we will present the accounts for the last year and outline our plans for the improvement project, but we need your help. We are asking as many people as possible from both villages to attend that meeting to hear about our plans for the Hall and we need two or three people from Amport to join the Hall Management Committee and to help us promote the Hall to ensure the future of the hall for both villages. Please do not let the Hall fade away! ! - 
The Village Hall Committee