WRG Challenge 2005 winners announced

At the awards event in the Terrace Pavilion of the House of Commons, the following awards were announced by Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, chair of the judging panel and our host for the day and certificates handed out by Jim Meredith, Chief Executive of Waste Recycling Group Ltd:

The judging panel, which comprised of Deborah Clarke, National Village Hall Information Officer from ACRE, John Marsh, Chairman of WREN and Stephen Parr, Managing Director of WREN met on 15th April and interviewed each of the five finalists. They each were asked to make a 15 minute presentation and then face questions from the judging panel. None were undaunted!

One theme to emerge was that facilities were most needed in communities where new housing construction was rampant. Many applications demonstrated genuine need because of poor facilities and increasing need from growing local populations. A second theme was that many communities were quite isolated by poor transport links to towns and needed local facilities to provide a venue for all.
The awards did not follow the guidelines of three £250,000 first prizes and two £125,000 second prizes but were adjusted to take account of needs. They were in reverse order:

BEDFORD, ST MARK’S CHURCH COMMUNITY CENTRE, BEDS
£125,000
This was the only award to an extension of an existing facility; all the others were new builds. As such, St Marks was commended to getting through to the final stage of this competition. The judges were impressed by the high level of use in the present community facilities within this modern Church in the north of the town. The current centre already has over 40 user groups but with a long waiting list! St Marks needs to cater for a large and rapidly expanding suburban area of north Bedford. The award will enable a new two-storey extension to be completed enabling more user groups to use the facility. The judging panel awarded the project £125,000.

THORPE HESLEY HOLY TRINITY COMMUNITY BUILDING, S. YORKS.
£175,000
The Thorpe Hesley team has been working on creating a community building for many years in their isolated village near Rotherham. It is a village of two halves with one half dominated by a poor estate but because of the quirks of boundaries they were ineligible for European funding and other local funding resources. I think they felt they were forgotten! They submitted an application to the 2004 Challenge but with an overambitious plan. The team thus submitted a much more conservative design for the 2005 Challenge which could be completed with an award of £125,000. On reaching the final round, the team went back to their architect and produced a larger ‘footprint’ that provided more space for meetings and events. The judges were impressed with the approach and the new design and thus awarded £175,000 to ensure that the larger build was achieved.

NORMANTON ON SOAR JUBILEE FIELD VILLAGE HALL, NOTTS.
£200,000
This project was for the replacement of a dilapidated village hall by a new build. The judges liked the fact that two of the team had themselves helped to build the original and now dilapidated facility on the banks of the River Soar in the 1970s. The replacement centre had to be on 1m high pillars with long access ramps which meant that the facilities themselves were restricted because of these costs. Most fortuitously, the project had been substantially revised in the period between the second round of judging in early December and final round in April because of a land swap from the river terrace to land near the village centre by an anonymous and very generous donor. The revised plans were exciting, ambitious but appropriate and the judges were keen that the award enabled the full build to be completed and awarded the project £200,000.

HIGH ONGAR VILLAGE HALL, ESSEX
£250,000
This was a deserving project to create a new village hall in the centre of the community in a village that was rapidly expanding and the project had attracted Section 106 funds from the development of the existing site and dilapidated old hall. The team had visited many halls in the area and come up with a successful and proven design. They had also to contend with the difficult requirements of road access and this had been successfully overcome. The judges were keen that the applicants went back to the County Council and sought input from them on the provision of the new footpath and street lighting required along the roadside. That notwithstanding, this was an exceptional project and the judges awarded a first prize of £250,000.

WEIR DOALS CENTRE, LANCASHIRE
£250,000
The judges felt that this was the most deserving of projects since the community was rapidly expanding and had no community facilities whatsoever. Weir Doals is an isolated community high up in the western Pennines close to Bacup and the need for a centre for the community was most clear for all of us to see. The team had worked for many years to little avail to see the project funded and completed but their plans were carefully considered and well presented. Their design was also exciting and exceptional. The judges therefore awarded Weir Doals a first prize of £250,000 for their new community centre.

2004 WRG VILLAGE HALL AND COMMUNITY CENTRE CHALLENGE
PROGRESS UPDATE

In 2004 WREN launched a Village and Community Hall Challenge. Over 140 communities from WREN's operating area submitted entries seeking one of the 8 funding awards with total prize money of £800,000. The two winners of the 2004 Challenge were

• Branston Booths New Village Hall, Branston Booths, Lincolnshire
• Outwell Village Community Hall, Outwell, Norfolk

Branston Booths, Lincolnshire (awarded £250,000)
Peter Lundgren from Branston Booths Village Hall Committee provided an update of progress and talked about the wider implications of the project at the awards event in London on May 9th. He explained that the new village hall will help the community in so many ways, especially to entertain young people as well as the elderly. Progress has been remarkably good and to budget and the hall is set to open with a flourish on 17th June.

Outwell, Norfolk (awarded £250,000)
Again progress by the committee has been excellent and an opening event is planned in July 2006.

The following received £50,000 awards and this created the need for the project teams to secure further funding. Hence, progress of these often complex and large projects, has been mixed:

  • Appleford New Village Hall, Appleford on Thames Parish Council, Oxfordshire - The very positive Parish Council are continuing to raise the necessary funding to begin work on their ambitious plans for a new Village Hall.
  • St Saviour's New Parish Centre, Auckley St Saviour's Parish Church, South Yorkshire - The £50,000 prize set the project in motion, with Phase I being able to progress smoothly. Recently the project has been awarded a further grant of £35,000 from WREN thus making it possible for Phase II to begin and the dream to become a reality.
  • Chapel Haddlesey Church Community Hall, Haddesley, North Yorkshire - In addition to the £50,000 awarded, the project received a further £50,000 from WREN. This enabled the project to reach its funding target and for work to commence. Progress has been outstanding, with an opening ceremony planned for 24th June 2006.
  • Fiskerton Community Gateway, Fiskerton cum Morton, Nottinghamshire - The project commenced on site on 6th May 2006 and is progressing very well. An official opening is due on completion in September 2006
  • Orford Lane Community Centre, Warrington – Unfortunately, the chosen site is no longer available but Warrington Borough Council are supporting the project and currently seeking to find a suitable site for the much needed Centre.
  • Wateringbury – Millennium Village Hall – excellent progress and the new Village Hall is now close to completion and an opening event to be held in July 2006.