Bray Village Hall celebrates 100 years of community service this year that includes supporting Britain's war effort between 1940 and 1945, where it was the drill hall for the Home Guard, provided a location for the manufacture of parts for Spitfires and Hurricanes and the bar for thousands of US and Canadian troops billeted in Bray.

It has served the community as the venue for local groups, including senior citizens, Brownies, boxing, snooker, cookery and gardening clubs, a pre-school and social centre for amateur dramatics, band practices, dances, a rentable space for private hire and much more. Today, it still supports many such activities and opens Thursdays and Friday evenings as a bar for locals and visitors.

Given its age, maintaining and running it is very expensive and it relies on grants, fund raising events and regular private hires to keep going. Operating costs are some £12,000 per annum and some £27,000 has been raised and spent in the past year on essential maintenance and refurbishments. In response to requests from the community, it is hoped to be able to complete other repairs/upgrades to help its Trustees achieve the stated aim of seeing the Hall open every day to serve as a community hub for the parishioners and residents to meet, work, take light refreshments and develop once again to be a sustainable venue fit for purpose in today's world as a key community social centre.

To help, PLEASE donate and/or come to learn more about its history, facilities on offer, how to hire, how it is run and to join-in some of the fun planned to mark its 100 year birthday on the 8th July. Lastly, pledges or lots for the planned auction on the 8th July can be made to the Chair of the Trustees via info@brayvillagehall.co.uk or through Facebook Messenger via: www.facebook.com/Brayvillagehall . Our broad aims and key challenges follow:

Aim

• The current plan, led by its Trustees, is to see the Hall again as ‘the’ community hub for Bray residents, parishioners and visitors, while continuing to act as a venue for hire for Borough residents for pre-school, clubs and events.

• After consultation with local residents and the Parish Council, the plan intends to offer a modern, comfortable, flexible space that can be accessed during the day to support informal meetings, local businesses, home working and refreshments, with more regular (and better provisioned) bar opening in the evenings, but overall, leading to more than that; becoming Bray’s ‘heart’.

• Financial - we are a charity - the Hall is expensive to run plus to maintain & repair, and relies on grants, hiring fees and donations. Current priorities for spend are:

o Front doors replacement

o Air conditioning for the bar cellar to support extended beers/drinks , main hall and bar room

o Furniture for outdoors adjacent to the bar in fine weather

o A picket fence between the road and area to be used above

o Main hall refurbishment, new lighting and kitchen floor

o Repairs to gutters, fascias and roof dormer windows