This announcement was made to the residents of the Parish by Peter Lemon, Chairman of the Parish Council, during the traditional Christmas Party 2008.
Peter said:
“We can all celebrate the incredible achievement of winning a grant of £274,500 from the Big Lottery to help fund the rebuilding of this Hall. This Hall was built in 1937 and the Hall Committee of Ann Dudney, Gale Harman, Sue Vallis and Libby Gilbert have run and looked after it for everyone for many years. They have been superb.
About 4 years ago when Keith Haddrell was chairman of the Parish Council it was decided that the Parish Council should become the Trustee of the Coronation Hall and Ann spent about 18 months sorting out the details with the Charity Commission.
Guy Symons asked his architect to produce drawings of the new Hall and in 2007 we received planning permission.
The Parish Council decided they had to do something about the Hall and asked residents, by questionnaire, to consider the options of demolition, refurbishment or re building. Overwhelming support for a rebuild, providing we could raise sufficient funds, was show in the 80+% returns. We decided to apply to the Big Lottery with a view to rebuilding and to safeguard the future by fundraising for a refurbishment if this was to be the outcome.
We felt the chance of success was probably only 1% but because there had been so much support from the Parish residents we decided to have a go. In our survey 82% of the households responded and of those ¾ were in favour of rebuilding the Hall if sufficient funds could be raised.
We were among 1600 Halls who applied and I am staggered that the success rate was only 2%.
There is perhaps is a real lesson for every young person in the Parish. If you set your mind to do something then the sky is the limit and nothing is impossible. Always be positive and give it a go for whatever you want to achieve.
Having been awarded the grant it is now up to all of us to fulfil the expectations and confidence that the Big Lottery have in the Parish of Grafton.
The grant would not have been awarded if the Parish had not be so proactive and raised a considerable amount of money from the activities they themselves had organised and helped with. This certainly made a big impact on the Big Lottery and everyone who has been involved has their own personal ownership and achievement in this award.
We started fund raising only 19 months ago in April 2007 and it is amazing how many people from the Parish and wider locality have been involved.
The following events have all contributed to the success
2 Music on the Green Events in 2007 and 2008 Party by the Lake in 2008
2 Grafton Game Fairs in 2007 and 2008 The Bridge Day in 2008
2 Children Treasure Hunts in 2007 and 2008 The Mushroom Foray in 2007
Pub Quiz at the Swan The French evening in 2007
The money Box which is still continuing. Toddlers Christmas in 2007
Continuing gifts and bequests gives us the extra bonus of Gift Aid.
Everyone is to be congratulated on what we have achieved so far and now the real work begins in getting the new Hall built. Your continued support help and advice is essential.
We have engaged the professional service of Christopher Lawrence FRICS from Manton as the project manager together with Phillip Thomas his architect from Cheltenham. Our hope is that we will receive quotations back from Builders by mid January and we will commence building in February.
Our ambitious hope is to be able to celebrate the opening at the Christmas party this time next year.”