Ampfield Village Hall

It was a very sad day when the hall committee had to put up the signs announcing that the Monthly Village Market, together with all other activities that take place in the hall, had to be suspended due to Central Government’s Covid 19 preventative measures. Little did we think it would be over a year before we could reopen. The Village Hall Committee decided that during these unprecedented times, the closure actually provided them with the golden opportunity to carry out some much-needed general maintenance, repairs and renewals and some more major enhancements. The work was carried out by a mixture of paid subcontractors and a lot of volunteer work, all observing the Covid safety requirements.

The first major task was to borrow a scaffold tower for the main hall to enable the cleaning of the walls and ceiling and the total redecoration of the main hall. The teething troubles with the new hall floor were then sorted out and new oak skirting board fitted to match the floor. Seven original doors, at the stage end, that were looking the worse for wear, (complete with dormant woodworm!) have been replaced with smart new doors that meet the current regulations.

The old kitchenette is now a bar/drinks servery. A new fixed bar has been installed, complete with a solid wood worktop all round with a wine cooler below. This was part financed by a £1,000 local Borough Councillor’s grant, and we are very grateful to him for his continued support.  The new kitchen and Faber Garden Room have also been kindly decorated by volunteers. The serving hatch counter has been lowered and slightly extended to form a level serving area. The area under the stage was investigated and a large trailer load of assorted rubbish was discovered and disposed of. This included some old rotten fence posts (!) All is now clear and hoovered.

Some beautiful new curtains have been hung at the windows in the main hall and garden room. They just prove that sometimes committees can excel at choosing colour schemes! The small patio between the hall and carpark has been greatly extended to create a very useful and useable space and a disabled friendly emergency exit.

Finally, the last finishing touch was the complete refurbishment of the original toilets and main entrance hall. New ceilings and LED downlighters throughout, new flooring and the complete redecoration of this area has completely and pleasingly transformed what was the last very tired looking part of the hall.

We are very grateful to the Test Valley Borough Council for smoothly distributing the various Government Covid 19 grants that the hall was entitled to claim, to cover the general overheads and upkeep of the hall during the shutdown. This helped a great deal to fund the above work. After the hall had been ‘deep cleaned’ and a number of automatic hand sanitisers installed, etc., and the regulations allowed, the hall committee were very pleased to open its doors again and were thrilled by the very positive comments by its users – both old and new.

For all hall hire related enquiries please ring or email the Hon. Hall Manager, (Martin Hatley) on 07970 501050 or Email: i[email protected]

If you would like to join our enthusiastic, friendly team of volunteers and become a member of the Hall committee, then please don’t hesitate to contact the Hon. Secretary, Julie Trotter,  [email protected] , for further details.

Ampfield Village Hall is situated next to the village green on the new Morleys Green residential estate easily located off the A3090. The post code is SO51 9BJ.and the What3Words location is:  ///passports.blazing.encounter

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HALL

The original hall, built in 1952 for the local WI branch consisted of the entrance hall with ladies and gents toilets, the main hall with a raised stage, small storage rooms to the left and right of the stage and a small kitchen which was accessed from the main hall. In 1996 the WI branch ceased to operate and the hall was leased to Ampfield Village Hall a registered charity as a community asset. In 1998 a new extension was added to the rear of the building to provide a small committee room and a large area in which regular hall users could rent a storage space. In June 2015 the hall was further expanded to provide a new committee room to the front of the hall, toilets, a large well equipped kitchen and a large annexe complete with a good sized patio area. This work was carried out at the same time as the Morleys Green development of 39 new houses alongside an attractive village green. More recently the freehold of the hall was purchased by Ampfield Parish Council to secure the building as an asset for the village.

The Hall trustees work continuously to improve the hall and have recently made several significant improvements.

A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THE HALL HAS TO OFFER…

THE ENTRANCE HALL

This is the main entrance to the building with a unisex and/or disabled toilet and the ladies toilets to the right and a gents toilet to the left. Hanging rails for coats etc… are also on the left.

THE MAIN HALL

This is an attractive large, light and airy room with high ceilings suitable for parties and good sized gatherings. The hall has a recently fitted new floor, fire doors and curtains, there are windows on both sides of the room. The stage is situated at the far end of the hall and is accessed by steps which are removable. The stage has curtains on both sides, back and front and so provides the perfect setting for plays, musical evenings, quizzes etc. There is a side door at the back of the stage on the left and on the right. There are spotlights along with ample stage lighting. To the front of the stage is a large screen and a projector.

THE STORAGE AREA

This locked area is located to the right of the stage and runs along the back of the building. It contains several lockable wire storage units.

THE CHAIR/TABLE STORE AND KITCHENETTE/BAR AREA

To the left of the stage is situated the chair and table store, accessed via the kitchenette/bar. This room used to be the old committee room but is now used for storing all the tables and chairs.

The kitchenette was refitted during lockdown. It is used when hirers only need the minimum of catering facilities. It is also used as a bar area when there is a major hall event. It contains worktops, cupboard storage, a wine cooler, sink, fridge and microwave. There is an emergency disabled friendly access onto the patio. A similar emergency access is located to the right side of the stage and takes you out onto a grassy play area at the other side of the hall.

THE MAIN KITCHEN

This is a large light kitchen ideally suited to larger catered events. There is a large walk-in storage cupboard at the far end of the room where most of the cutlery and crockery is stored. There is ample worktop space with more drawers and cupboard storage underneath. The room is well equipped with a large range cooker, industrial dishwasher, large larder fridge, separate freezer, an efficient Burco water heater for hot drinks, microwave and toaster. There is a large serving hatch between the kitchen and Faber Garden Room.

THE MARTIN TROTTER COMMITTEE ROOM

From the bottom end of the Faber Garden is a door leading to a corridor which takes you to the Martin Trotter Committee Room. This is a well-proportioned light room containing a large committee table and comfortable chairs. In one corner of the room is a cupboard complete with a sink, kettle etc. There is also a large wipe board on the wall. The new toilets, located outside the committee room provide disabled access and are beside a door leading outside to the front of the building and back to where we started outside the main entrance doors.