We are delighted to announce that work will soon commence on a major new project to transform the look of the Village Hall, both inside and out.

The project will involve replacing or, to be more accurate, "overplating" the roof with slate effect "Metrotile" and at the same time bringing the insulation up to modern specification, thus saving energy and costs. We will also replace all the internal ceiling tiles in the Main Hall.

This has been made possible by two very generous grants from Grimsargh Parish Council and Lancashire Environmental Fund of £70,000 and £30,000 respectively, the remaining balance coming from our own reserves.

We are particularly thrilled that local Grimsargh "lad", Michael Harrison, a partner in Lee-Hough Chartered Surveyors will be managing the project for us.

Michael says:

"I have lived in Grimsargh all of my life and have seen a lot of changes over the years. I remember the old derelict railway station and the big warehouses that were where the Pastures are now. I also used to play football and camp out on the cow fields that are now the Redrow estate, so Grimsargh looks a bit different now to how it was back then!  

It was a big deal when the village hall was being built back in the early eighties. I actually went to the grand opening back in 1983 with my grandma, Maud Wright, who always attended village events. She won a cake in the shape of the village hall in the raffle and I remember having a slice of the cake and a cup of tea when we got home afterwards.

It is great to be involved in the project to refurbish the roof. Over the years, I have attended loads of events in the village hall, from the Youth Club when I was a teenager, through to various parties and fundraisers as an adult. Both of my children also attended the pre-school that was operated in there for many years and where my wife, Shirley, also worked for a time.

The village hall has been a great facility for the village and thanks to the fundraising efforts of the committee, this project will safeguard the future of the building for many years to come."    

The contractor doing the external roofing work will be a small, local, family-run firm, FRS Roofing Limited and the ceiling tiles, re-decoration and other ancillaries will be carried out by (Matt) Hall Building Contractors Limited - who reside just a few doors away from us.

Back in 2010, when we had the major extension and renovation project, local architect Michael Jackon introduced us to the slate-effect "Metrotile". The roof structure could not support full "real" slate, but, as he said it is as good-looking and possibly even more durable. Ever since, we have planned to use the same materials to cover the rest of the building. Now - it is soon to actually happen and we could not be more pleased. 

We have a provisional start date of the 15th March. It is hoped to have everything completed in time for the relaxing of restrictions , which should enable us to move towards getting back to "business as usual".....

As well as the Parish Council and Lancashire Environmental Fund, the Committee would like to sincerely thank all those who wrote in to support this project. That was crucial to us achieving the amount of grant funding needed for the project to proceed. 

The corrugated tin will be gone	To be replaced by a new"slate effect" roof