A COMMUNITY hall in the Cotswolds that burnt down two years ago is another step closer to being rebuilt, after the Wilts and Glos Standard contributed thousands of pounds.

Last week, the Standard’s editor, John Wilson visited the construction site of Lechlade’s new Memorial Hall to hand over a £6,000 cheque to Sue Coakley, chairwoman of hall’s fundraising committee.

The original hall was destroyed in a fire in May 2016 and significant progress has been made since work began to reconstruct the hall last summer.

Funding for the £1.5 million hall has come from a variety of sources including a £650,000 public works loan, £150,000 from fundraising events and a £55,000 town council grant

The fundraising committee has also secured £50,000 from private grants, including £6,000 from the Standard’s publisher Newsquest.

John Wilson said: “We at the Standard are pleased and proud to make this contribution to the Lechlade community on behalf of the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of our publisher’s parent company Gannett Co.

“It is a demonstrable illustration of the commitment newspapers like ours show to the communities they serve.

“I was so thrilled to see this splendid hall take shape and know that it will be put to great use by generations of local people.”

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

The new hall will feature a stage with a green room, two upstairs meeting rooms which together can host up to 70 people, a larger kitchen and bar and a badminton court which can be used for indoor tennis or mat bowls.

It will come equipped with underfloor heating thanks to an outsource heat pump which generates heat in an environmentally friendly way.

Sue Coakley said: “The new hall is fantastic. It’s significantly bigger and much more flexible.

“You can use one part of the hall while someone’s using another part of it so we can have five or six different events going on at the same time.

“Previously, we had so much contention for the space we could only cope with three events, now we can cope with twice as many.

“We’re also really excited that the running costs are going to be less than the previous hall, even though it’s bigger. Expense was a worry some people have had.”

There will also be a brand new skate park and landscaped garden, which Sue said is her favourite part of the new building.

“Previously the hall didn’t have it’s own space but we’ve built a new skate park that’s allowed us to have some landscaping around the hall”, she said.

“We’ll be able to walk out into our own garden space which if you’re having a wedding reception will be really special.

“It will be fabulous to have the hall back again, it’s the heart of our community”.

The new hall is expected to be completed in the Spring and event bookings are now being taken by calling 07788 809784 or email: bookonlinelechlade@gmail.com