In recognition of work done to get a new
Community Hall for Acton.
Bernard Lean was
the Treasurer of Acton Playingfield and Village Hall Association
(“the Village Hall Committee”) from 1993-2006.
He worked as unpaid caretaker of the old village hall when
its deteriorating condition made it no longer possible to
find anyone else willing to undertake the caretaking work.
He is currently joint organiser of a monthly Drop-in Coffee
Morning for village residents, started partly to provide
a communal meeting point for elderly and/or lonely people
and partly to provide income for the new Community Hall.
Chris Moss was
the Project Co-ordinator for the new Hall. He has been a member
of Acton Parish Council since 1976 and its Chairman since May
1978, and he is also a member of Acton Parochial Church Council.
( community award winners)
Acton has a population of just under 2000.
It is not a rich village and raising money in it is very hard
work. The village hall, which was paid for by subscription in
the 1960’s was a large wooden shed which needed to be replaced.
In 1992 a project group made up of representatives
of the Village Hall Committee and of the Parish Council was formed
with the aim of getting a new public hall for Acton. The Parish
Council had already begun to set money aside for the project,
a grant was obtained from Babergh DC and Lottery Funding was applied
for.
Babergh District Council advised that the
only way to secure the necessary lottery funding was to apply
to the Sports Lottery (Sport England). Parish councils could apply
to this fund but playing field and village hall associations could
not. Unfortunately, just at the point when meetings were taking
place with representatives of Sport England to finalise the parish
council’s bid for lottery funding, and having been advised
that the bid was likely to be successful, it was announced that
Sport England would no longer be allowed to fund projects of the
size envisaged.
Advice was sought on alternative sources of funding. There was
a long period of delay because the various national lottery funds
were being reorganised. The parish council and the Village Hall
Committee were eventually told that the only possible source of
funding through the National Lottery would be via the Community
Fund. Parish councils were not allowed to apply to the Community
Fund but the Village Hall Committee could.
This setback occurred in 2001. Eight years
had passed and the village was no nearer to getting a new hall.
The old hall was deteriorating rapidly. Although other members
of the project group were involved, the enthusiasm of most people
was beginning to wane but Mr Moss and Mr Lean pressed on with
preparing a new Lottery application on behalf of the Village Hall
Committee.
In April 2002 Lottery funding of £298,000
was granted. Based on the project architect’s figures, this
sum, added to the grants provided by Babergh District Council
and Acton Parish Council, should have been sufficient to allow
the building work to begin. Mr Moss was appointed by the Hall
Committee as Project Manager.
The scheme was put out to tender and to
everyone’s horror the lowest tender came out at far in excess
of the amount of funding which had been secured. People began
to say there would never be a new hall. The whole project was
in danger of being lost. Meantime, the old village hall was deteriorating.
The heating system was breaking down, the main roof was leaking
and Mr Lean spent many hours mopping up and ensuring the building
could be used because, as Treasurer, he knew it was essential
to keep rents coming in.
It was obvious that a great deal more funding
had to be found and the two men pressed on with applications to
every charitable organisation they could think of, eventually
obtaining grants from the Rank Foundation, the Bernard Sunley
Charitable Trust, and the Suffolk Environmental Trust. The National
Lottery was becoming anxious that its money was not being used
but work could not begin until all funding was secured. Eventually
the two men managed to obtain a major grant from the Football
Foundation which secured the project. They both suffered many
months of worry, anxiety and sleepless nights as they worked to
keep the project alive. The scheme came very close to being abandoned
when the National Lottery threatened to withdraw its £298,000
funding unless the balance of the money needed could be found
within fourteen days.
When work did begin, additional foundation
work was found to be necessary and costs continued to escalate.
In an attempt to keep within budget Mr Lean and Mr Moss undertook
a considerable amount of clearance work at the old hall and decorating
work at the new hall themselves and persuaded other people to
give up their time to the project in order to save on costs.
Without the efforts of these two people
the new Acton Village Hall would probably never have materialised.*******
CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRIS AND BERNARD******* Chris
officially handed his keys over to Alan Sawyer, the current
chairman in November 2006. Alan has been chair since the
hall opened and was a member of the project group from 2002.
