AN AMBITIOUS plan has been launched to raise £25,000 to help secure the future of a village hall near Whitchurch 'for generations to come'.

The village hall at Tallarn Green - located between Wrexham and Whitchurch - was originally built to be used as an army hut.

But, more than 100 years of wear and tear have taken its toll on the venue's floor.

Now deemed unsafe to use, the committee has had to close the village hall until it is able to replace the current floor with a new, future-proof surface.

As such, a fundraiser has been set up with the aim of collecting £25,000 to help secure the venue for the next generations to use and enjoy.

Committee member for the hall, Josie Hatch said: "With the closing of the village pub, the hall has become the only social hub for our community to come together and we are therefore determined to only close the hall for a minimal time."

Josie added: "The new floor will cost in the region of £35,000 and whilst we have been fundraising for this, we are still a long way off our target.

"Therefore, we are asking our community to donate as little or as much as they can afford to help towards this cause.

"This will allow us to at least complete stage 1 of the new floor to be able to open the hall for events and future fundraising activities."

OTHER NEWS:

The committee took the decision to close the village hall with immediate effect last week following safety concerns.

According to Josie, the floor is wooden with joists underneath that are rotten and it all needs taking up - something which will be carried out by volunteers in the village.

The committee would then like to replace the old floor with a concrete base topped with wooden flooring to future-proof the hall. 

Josie added: "Over the last few years, we have raised money towards this cause and we are eternally grateful to our community for the support you have provided for us to reach this sum of money. 

"Unfortunately, we need another £25,000 in order to carry out the work needed and whilst we look for grants to help us with some of this funding we would like to proceed in stage 1 (removing the old floor) and stage 2 (laying the concrete base) of the project to be able to at least re-open our doors to continue to fundraise and keep the community coming together.

"Therefore we have set up this Just Giving page for the community to donate into. Any amount, however little, is gratefully appreciated to secure the future of our hall for generations to come.

"Our pub has not re-opened after closing during the Covid-19 pandemic and so our village hall is the only community hub we have left for our residents to come together, some of them elderly people living alone."