Burtle Village Hall Refurbishment Project

Into this spectacular masterpiece:

Over the last few years the villagers of Burtle have been trying desperately to raise money to rebuild, replace or otherwise refurbish the ageing village hall.  Built originally in 1938 and extended in the 1950's, the hall today is sadly in need of serious work if it is to remain in service.  If you don't believe me, take a look at some of the pictures on the Gallery page.

Through numerous fund raising activities, raffles, bingo, social events and downright begging, we managed to accumulate some £20,000 of funds.  Sedgemoor District Council and Somerset County Council both agreed to provide up to £70,000 of match funding provided we could raise the rest.  With their help and encouragement the Village Hall Committee set about applying for lottery funding but, despite having won through to the second round, were told in January 2008 that we had not been successful.

The council funding was, we knew, only available if we started work before the end of March 2008 so what to do?  At this point a knight in shining (well perhaps not shining) armour came to the rescue in the shape of Robin Howell.  "I have an alternative plan", he said.  "We can refurbish the existing hall and use straw bales and sheep fleeces to insulate it making a real eco-friendly hall using local resources and materials."  To read more about Robin's "Plan B" please follow this link.