Edstaston Village Hall – new extension opening June 2022

The new extension to the Edstaston Village Hall was opened by celebrity Greg Davies on Saturday 18th June 2022 followed by a celebration party with music by fantastic local band Halcyon. Greg was presented with a portrait of him painted by local artist Bev Horsley.

The Edstaston Village Hall committee would like to give heartfelt thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to improve this valued resource. It was terrific to see it filled with community members young and old who have all contributed to this wonderful achievement.

The project began in 2017 with the donation of some land by the Price family of Edstaston. This enabled the committee to plan the much-needed new extension adding space while also making the hall fully accessible. Extra outside space also allowed a patio area and overflow parking. After community consultation plans were drawn and passed and the fundraising began. The Village Hall committee was delighted to be awarded grants from the Wem Rural Parish Council, Bernard Sunley Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, ACRE/DEFRA (Village Halls Improvement Grant), Co-op Local Community Fund, Midcounties Co-operative Community Fund and Shropshire Council. In October 2020 the community began the groundworks.

This was a truly local project – local architect Ian Jamieson of Bleazard & Galletta provided the plans, ATEC Construction built the shell of the extension and other local businesses provided materials and invaluable work including Trev Gough from TAG Services Ltd, Mike and Russell Vernon of M & R Vernon Contracts, Ali and his team from Hunter Lloyd Ltd. Alpha Windows fitted our gorgeous full height gable end window, and the crowning glory of the new extension – the falling leaf chandelier – was supplied by Iestyn Davies of The Contemporary Chandelier Company. Special thanks also to Gordon Jones of Edstaston and his sons, Mark, Chris and Nick for working so hard to finish the patio in time for our grand opening.

Many skilled volunteers from the community played a part in the build, helping to dig the footings, pouring/raking concrete, procuring all materials, doing all the internal renovations, plumbing, painting, fitting the kitchen, building the patio and raising the outdoor ground level with tons of soil to create a future amenity space for the community.

It has been a truly fantastic community effort and we are very grateful to Wem Rural Parish Council for having faith in us and awarding us a grant. We are justly very proud of our achievements so far and are ready to start fundraising for a second extension on the opposite side of the hall to create a stage area with dressing room and storage.

To see more about the project or to find out about hiring the hall please follow us on Facebook @edstastonvillagehall or on our website edstaston.org.uk

Edstaston Village Hall Committee

Bev Horsley (Chair), Elaine Brown (Vice-Chair), Sandra Price (Bookings), Anna Thomas and Corrine Brown (Treasurers), Liz Vernon (Secretary) Don Gregory, Trev Gough, Neale Sadler and Hazel Rees.