History of The Wenvoe Village Hall
A little history
The Village Hall is situated on land owned by the Wenvoe Estate and was offered to the residents of Wenvoe for a peppercorn rent after World War 1. It was offered to the residents (referred to as villagers at the time) to build a village hall, so that they could have a place to meet and hold their dances.
The first lease dates back to 1921, which would mean that next year, the Village Hall celebrates its 100th Birthday/Centenary. I am sure we will be planning to celebrate, so watch out for how you can help at a later date.
The hall has been a main part of our community for nearly 100 years.
The school children would attend the Village Hall for lunch daily, until the new school and its canteen arrived in the Autumn of 1970 (not the whole school as you see it today, just two classrooms, hall and canteen. However, that’s a story for their 50th Birthday celebrations).
I remember attending talent competitions, discos, youth club and judo as a child at the village hall and in the 70s our famous Beer Barrel Rolling Race after party with lots of beer and Mike’s brass band. These memories were mostly of the ‘Old Village Hall’. The hall as you see it today, was rebuilt in 1974 (I can hear some of you saying to yourselves ‘The Old Tin Shack’ at this point).
Of course, there are many people still living in the village today, who could share more memories, especially later memories of their Carnivals and themed nights out.
Whilst I have been a Committee Member these past 26 years, we have raised funds to keep the hall open, by holding jumble sales, car boot sales, discos and dances, as did those before me.
Over the past couple of years, the hall is hired out continuously, so the rents mostly cover the basic outgoings with the odd disco or fundraiser now and again.
The hall has also been the home of the Playgroup for the past 50 years, which is continuing to grow and providing much needed income to keep the hall up and running.
As many of you know, the hall closed its doors at the end of March due to Covid-19. Although the Management Committee have continued to keep in touch via zoom and regularly check on the safety and upkeep of the building, we were unable to open without clear guidance from the Welsh Government. At the time of writing this, we are planning to meet on the 18th August to discuss a way forward to open the hall to regular hirers in the Autumn (keeping 2m distance of course).
The Committee have been busy preparing for the hall’s re-opening, with Bernard completing some much-needed maintenance at the hall over the past few months. Thanks Bernard.
New internal doors have been installed over the past month, and we are awaiting the outside of the hall to be painted prior to an Autumn return.
Gail has been very busy, scouring the latest up-dates and applying for grants to help us survive the loss of income due to the hall closure. Thanks Gail.
Regular hirers: If it is your wish to resume your hire and you have not been contacted, please email us at wenvoevillagehall@yahoo.co.uk Carol will be at the end of the email to help. Alternatively, if you are hoping to delay your return, then please let Carol know and she can keep us informed.
We do have to follow Government guidelines and ensure that we can open the hall safely whilst coronavirus remains in circulation. We would like to thank you for your patience in these uncertain times and hope to welcome you back to the hall in the near future.
Please remember, that your group must be able to maintain a safe 2m social distance whilst operating at the hall.
A hand sanitiser is placed just inside the main entrance to use on entry, then you must use the bathroom and the hand soap provided to wash your hands on entry and prior to leaving the hall.
Further details will be issued with the hall risk assessment to operate and adhere to a.s.a.p.
Anyone with the following symptoms should not use or attend the Village Hall
- A new continuous cough
- A high temperature
- Loss of smell or taste
Please arrange for a test and self-isolate for 10 days if you have any of the above symptoms. Anyone in your household must also isolate for 14 days.
Do not leave the house to go to the Doctors or Pharmacy. Apply for an antigen test on the website: https://gov.wales/apply-coronavirys-test
Thank you on behalf of the Village Hall Management Committee – Sandra