Cold Higham Parish Hall

Parish Hall

For All Hall Bookings please contact
Karl Lange tel no 07801 716872 or 01327 830040 or please send an email to karlnlange@outlook.com.

The Parish Hall was formerly the village school but has not been used for this purpose for over 50 years. Instead the hall is now the focal point of many activities for local residents. It was extensively refurbished in the 1990s to upgrade the building and provide better kitchens and toilets. There are two rooms, one large, one small, that can be used together or separately. Equipment includes a good supply of chairs and tables. There is a small off-road car park at the front and a quiet garden at the rear.

The hall is run by a committee of trustees.

The Post Code is NN12 8LR.

Chairman's Report at AGM 9 May 2023

Chairman's Report – CH Parish Hall AGM 9^th May 2023

General

As I near the end of my fourth year as Cold Higham Parish Hall Chairman, I am pleased to see that the hall continues to be enjoyed by our Parish residents, and friends. It thrives as a community facility, as the Hall Committee continue to tirelessly organise and host events.

The past few months has been overshadowed by the passing of much-loved past Chairman and long-standing Committee member, and friend, Gill Rowe. Gill really was the core of the Hall Committee. Firm but fair and always up for a giggle. We all miss her and will continue to do so for some time yet. Such fond memories of (hours spent) trying to connect to "Covid Zoom meetings", the famous Pimms Cake and Gill's (often) gentle chastising, always make me smile – thank you Gill for your commitment, dedication and love for our community, we will 'just get on with it' as you would have wanted.

We also said goodbye to Danny Hayes in 2022, owing to his decision to step down from the committee. Danny provided some amazing ideas during his time on the committee, and huge amounts of support for hall events. We are of course also grateful for the continued support of the Sainsbury's Community Fund, which Danny facilitates.

We have managed to raise several hundred pounds over the past year thanks to the sterling efforts of the Parish Hall committee, and wider parish, as well as funding from the National Lottery and Sainsbury's Community Funds, who have supported Hall events.

The past year has seen some amazing events hosted at Cold Higham Parish Hall. From "Grease on the big screen" to "trapeze on the lawn", quite possibly some firsts for this wonderful community facility. The Hall has proved the perfect venue for Cold Higham Parish to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee and the Hall's 150^thAnniversary, in 2022, as well as King Charles III's Coronation a few days ago.

We continue to be thankful for the support of our local community. Whether it is joining us for soup and bacon rolls in the Autumn/Winter months, or booking the hall for their private events; we appreciate the commitment our local Parish have to their hall.

Bookings

Regular bookings are improving following a decline, largely resultant from the Covid 19 pandemic, over the past couple of years. Whilst we have lost the Pattishall Beavers over the past few months, there are new bookings from a jujitsu club and camera club.

The Parish Council continue to use the hall regularly for their meetings, and Pattishall Good Neighbours hold a lunch at the hall monthly. Bridge Club and Wine Club also continue to support the hall.

Over the past year we have also seen regular bookings from Friendly Support Services, who have hired the hall for training courses, and we hope their support continues.

In January 2023, we increased the booking cost of the hall to £8 per hour (non-residents) and £7 per hour (residents) This increase was discussed at length and is required to assist with the increased running costs for the hall (electricity etc).

Events 2022/23

The Parish Hall Committee have hosted a number of events over the past year, the most significant of which were those to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and 150^th Anniversary of the hall, in June 2022. This weekend of events, hosted jointly with the Parish Council and members of the local community, saw a huge number of residents enjoy a cinema evening and fireworks as well as "The Big Jubilee Lunch", the following day.

Tea and cakes afternoons continued over the Summer months of 2022, and two quizzes (October 2022 and April 2023) were very well attended and enjoyed by all. December saw a resurrection of our "Carols and Mulled Wine" event, with carols led by The Highamettes and mulled wine and mince pies served to attendees. Our 2022 events raised a total of £1,943.25, to include funding from The National Lottery who supported the Parish Jubilee events. All funds have been raised in aid of the Parish Hall. A huge thanks to all those who continue to support the hall. We would like to give a special mention also to Sainsbury's, whose Community Fund has assisted enormously with our fundraising at several of our events over the past year.

Our most recent event, "The Big Coronation Lunch", to mark the Coronation of King Charles III, saw a trapeze and circus games in the garden with live Jazz, tombola and homemade cakes and savoury goods for residents and friends to enjoy. The weather was kind and the sun shone, the event enjoyed by all those who attended.

In addition to events held in aid of the Parish Hall, we again served soup and rolls following the cenotaph wreath laying ceremony at St Luke's Church, Cold Higham, in aid of the Royal British Legion, on Sunday 15 November 2022. This saw amazing support from attendees and we were able to raise £137 for this great cause.

Future Events

Going forward, we intend to continue with tea and cakes in the garden during the Summer months and Soup and Rolls in the hall during the Autumn/Winter. A further Quiz is planned for October 2023, which the Hall Committee will cater with a lasagne supper. We hope also to host the Mulled Wine and Carols event in December.

We are always keen for new event ideas and would welcome any suggestions from the local community.

Hall Improvements

During 2019 and early 2020, as a committee we discussed what improvements (if any) could be made to the hall. It was decided that we would look to allocate some funds towards some improvements over the next year or so, once it had been determined what works should be prioritised. In 2019, hall users were asked in a survey, to put forward ideas and feedback was provided from the PCC, wine club and Parish Council, which were later circulated to the Committee. Proposals included refurbishing the kitchen and adapting the small hall to provide extra storage and work-surfaces. To date, owing to a decline in bookings, and therefore revenue, resulting from the pandemic, we have yet to further any of these ideas however hope to be able to divert funds to doing so in the future.

In addition to these proposals, discussions have also focussed on the possibility of having a defibrillator installed at the hall, for use by the whole community, if ever required. We have recently applied for funding for this facility, from the Parish Council, and await to hear further.

The Parish Hall committee continue to maintain the hall, both the building and the garden, with the lion's share of this work taken on by Karl Lange and Steve Rowe. 2021 saw considerable efforts from all hall committee members in clearing the rear garden, with the bulging rear wall having been rebuilt in 2021 also. Karl and Steve replaced the fencing to the wall later that year.

Committee – Future Changes

Whilst not officially a member of the Hall Committee; Steve Rowe has confirmed that he will soon be stepping down from his current role as caretaker. We are therefore actively seeking someone to take over this role in the future.

No further changes have been proposed to the Hall committee as we approach the AGM, however we always welcome new members, should anyone feel they would like to join us.

A huge, heartfelt, thank you to all committee members. You all commit so much to keeping the hall going and making sure it continues to be an excellent facility for the local community.