After hard work and determination, enough money was raised to restore and repair the roof of Stokenham Parish Hall.

Working with an 100 year old building does mean that maintenance is difficult. The original repairs to the roof were made of iron which meant that it was harder to keep the building up to date. Consequently, a committee initiated a survey to be done to assess the roof which helped reach the decision that half the roof had to be completely replaced.

Volunteers have been raising money for a number of years by organising events such as bingo nights and quizzes to try and reach appropriate funds for the work. Impressively, they managed to raise about £8,000 to help pay for the new roof. Additionally, residents involved in the development would like to express their gratitude to the District and Parish Council who provided a grant of almost 80% to cover the remaining cost of this venture. The funding for this came from the Council’s community re-investment projects fund.

Members of the development committee would like to thank all those who contributed funds, time and energy into organising these fund raising events. Without these contributions, such a great achievement would not have been possible.

The work done included new soffits, barge boards and guttering, so the hall should last for a long time. B&S Roofing completed a very good job given the age of the hall and all the work was able to be completed during the school summer holidays which meant that the majority of normal activities could continue whilst the work was going on.

The representatives from Stokenham would like to report that the new roof has been tested during the recent rain storms and there have been no reports of leaks.

The hall runs on a continuous programme of repairs and we hold regular clean up sessions where all offers of help are welcome. In addition, fund raising activities to ensure the maintenance of the hall will continue.