Villagers to celebrate £1.5m community hall

villagers will be able to celebrate the completion of the newly built community hall at Stogursey at an official opening next month.

The new Victory Hall has been made possible thanks to a £1.55 million grant from Hinkley Point C’s multi-million pound Community Impact Mitigation (CIM) fund administered by Somerset West and Taunton Council.

The new building has replaced an old hall built in the 1950s but due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown restrictions an official opening has not been possible.

Valerie Boxall, a trustee of the Stogursey and District Victory Hall, told the Free Press: “The Covid-19 lockdown has delayed the completion of the hall, but it is now finished and, with the lifting of restrictions, we will be holding a formal opening of the hall during the afternoon of Saturday, September 18.

“This will be for all those companies which have contributed to the building together with the architects and builders and various institutions who have given us help and advice along the way.

“We are very pleased with our new hall which has cost just over £1.5 million.”

While the afternoon event is being held for project supporters and contractors, the celebrations will continue into the evening when villagers are invited to come together.

The CIM fund was set up in 2012 with the aim of increasing the opportunity and reducing the impact of the Hinkley Point C construction project for local people.

More than £20 million of funding has been made available for community projects in Somerset to alleviate any social, environmental and economic impacts of the building project while ensuring the larger benefits could be accessed by local people.

The new hall has been designed for community use and will serve the local and wider area with modern, fit-for-purpose facilities including a large multi-use hall, state-of-the-art changing facilities for home and away football teams, and a new high-specification kitchen which can function as a small cafe or for large events such as weddings.

It also has rooms available for private meetings and course bookings, an extended car parking area and planting.