Thursday’s see’s the satellite Post Office service at the hall from 2.45pm to 4.45pm.
Services are as per Monday’s post.
However, this week, 25th January, there is no service due to holidays.
Thursday evening the hall is the venue for Kingsley Holt Guides who have met at the hall for some 10 years or so.
They meet from 7.30pm to 9pm and welcome new members – for more details contact Staffordshire Girl Guiding via this link Girl Guiding
#villagehallsweek
Welcome to our third installment of what the hall has to offer.
Wednesday’s see’s Karen Landon from Churnet Valley Dog Training providing classes for all ages of dogs from 6pm to 8pm.
In the summer the car park is utilised for additional training.
From Wednesday 31st January for 6 weeks, there is a special daytime class from 11am to 12 noon.
More details via their web page Churnet Valley Dog Training
#villagehallsweek
Tuesdays is for Toddlers as in Mothers and Toddlers which is run in term time by St Werburghs Church.
The group is open to mothers (and fathers) and preschool children and runs from 2pm until 3pm each Tuesday at the hall.
There is no need to book in advance and it is at this time free.
Tuesday evenings have for many years on the second Tuesday of each month seen the sitting of the Parish Council at the hall. However, following a suggestion by the hall’s chair and current councilor that the council sits in each of the three villages in the parish the council sits at Kingsley on around 7 times each year.
A schedule of where the council sits can be found HERE – each meeting starts at 7.15pm other than the AGM which starts at 7am.
The hall is delighted to announce that today (23rd January) there is a new class starting on Tuesday’s at the hall (other than when the Parish Council sits)
Pete Ruscoes Zumba Fitness class starts at 7pm until 8pm and costs just £4.
There is no need to book. Over 16’s only, please.
This class means that there is in term time an event on at the hall on every single evening during the week which is great news in terms of the provision of community-based activities and also sustaining the hall.
#villagehallsweek
Welcome to this our first article as we start Village Hall’s Week.
As the song says ‘nobody likes Mondays’ but the hall has something to offer each and every day of the week.
From 12.30pm to 430pm each Monday the hall hosts a satellite Post Office where the Post Master from Ashbourne Road Post Office, Cheadle provides a full postal service at the hall.
Since the closure of the villages Post Office in around 2006 (Yes it was that long ago) we have worked very closely with the Post Master to provide a service to the community.
The loss of HSBC, Nationwide and the Nat West Bank’s in Cheadle will have caused issues for many people (we bank with the Nat West) but did you know that you can bank at the Post Office including cash withdrawals and deposits?
There is, of course, the usual Post Office Services including foreign currency, stamps, and parcels.
On Monday’s there is a small shop selling gifts and sweets.
Supporting the Post Office makes sure the service stays in the village but also supports the hall.
(Ironically this week sees a truncated service due to holidays so its 2.45pm to 4.45pm)
From 7.30pm each Monday during term time, as a rule, there is an excellent and long-running yoga and relaxation class run by Lynne Brunt.
Classes are very well attended and at times its standing room only!
Price is £6 a head and whilst its mainly ladies only men are more than welcome.
This terms classes actually start today (22nd January) – there’s no need to book in advance.
#villagehallsweek
Monday 22nd January see the start of Village Hall’s Week, a nationwide celebration of hall’s and community buildings that are the focal point of so many of our rural and urban communities.
The hall has signed up to take part and starting on Monday we will be releasing a daily post to showcase the building, the groups and organisations that we host and how the hall continues to be relevant in the 21st Century.
The hall was built in 1913 and its first meeting took place 104 years ago this month. Initially, a reading room bequeathed to the community by the influential Beech family many of its members saw action and died in the First World War,
In the late 1960’s it converted into a village hall and around the millennium underwent a £80,000 refurb that saw new toilets, kitchen and a small meeting room replacing an old flat roof extension.
The hall is managed by a group of at present 5 trustees as well as 2 representative trustees from St Werburgh’s Church and the Parish Council. We are keen to recruit more trustees to ensure the future of the hall is secure.
The trustees work hard behind the scenes ensuring that we get good value for money, be it the building insurance or energy contracts. In addition, we arrange access to the hall for parties and events and work with groups and organisations to encourage use of the hall by the community.
The trustees also organise and host events such as Breakfast Mornings, concerts, the Scarecrow Festival and many others that have the twin aim of creating a community atmosphere in the community as well as fundraising to secure the hall’s future as well as to make improvements.
Please do remember that all this does not happen on its own and if you don’t get involved then who will?
Its a fact of life the no is here forever and unless the community is prepared to step forward and get involved in whatever way then the hall’s future is not secure.
We have seen half a dozen or so volunteers, your friends and neighbours, step forward and offer their help, be it at events, maintenance of the exterior of the building and contributing their thoughts on what can be done to improve matters. If they can do it so can you.
If anyone one to find out what it entails being involved then call Martyn Hordern on 01538 750657.
We do hope you enjoy reading our daily posts!
#villagehallsweek
The Post Master informs that over the next 3 weeks there will be some closures of the service at the hall and some truncated hours. This is due to holidays.
Monday 22th January – 2.45pm to 4.45 pm
Thursday 25th January – closed
Monday 29th January – closed
Thursday 1st February 2.45pm to 4.45pm
Monday 5th February 2.45pm to 4.45pm
Thursday 8th February – closed
Monday 12th February normal service resumes – 12.30pm to 4.30pm Mondays and 2.45pm to 4.45pm Thursdays.
Please do support the hall by using the Post Office – all the normal services you would expect from a Post Office.
The hall is delighted to announce that from Tuesday 23rd January Zumba Fitness run by Pete Ruscoe will be held at the hall on a weekly basis.
The class will run each Tuesday from 7pm to 8pm, the cost is £4 a head and is open to anyone aged 16 and over.
There is no need to book just turn up, however, if you require any more information contact Pete on 07403952279
As the saying goes – ‘New Year, New You !’
Our village hall is one of 10,000 up and down the country that are at the heart of community life and in our case the heart of the village.
They provide numerous social activities, classes, and services like the Post Office that visits the hall twice a week.
These halls are run by around 80,000 volunteers but that number is dwindling as new, younger volunteers are not coming through to replace those who have retired.
This is a situation that we face in Kingsley and its slightly reassuring to know that we are not alone, not that it makes matters better.
An article in the Telegraph newspaper yesterday highlighted the issues we and other halls face. It can be read HERE (opens in new tab)
ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) is at the forefront of efforts being made to address the issues as regards volunteers as well as providing support to village halls across the country.
As part of this, they are running a Village Hall’s Week from 22nd January to champion the diverse range of buildings and communities that make up the network of village halls across the country, as well as the services they offer.
There will be an opportunity to say thank you to the volunteers who run the buildings and learn more about the groups, organisations, individuals, and businesses who are making use of them week in and week out. Predominantly the week will take place on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram)
The week will use the hashtag of #VillageHallsWeek.
The hall, of course, is joining in and will in the run-up to the week and during it showcase the various activities at the hall, to encourage its continued use and hopefully one or two people to volunteer.
The village hall is delighted that Girl Guiding has chosen the hall to be the venue for a new Brownie Unit that’s being created in the village for young girls aged between 7 and 10.
The unit is run by Brown Owl Nicola Howle and has it first meeting on Friday 3rd November at the hall from 4.30pm.
If anyone is interested then Nicola would be delighted to hear from you. Further details for the poster at the top of this post.
We wish Nicola, Lisa and all the girls in the unit every success.
Believe or believe it not there are just 6 weeks to go to our 2017 Christmas events on 1st and 2nd December!
Details of both can be found via this link: Christmas Lights & Breakfast with Santa