* * * * * * 2017 * * * * * *
7th August
We need your help…
Trying to win £500 of display equipment from the company Marler Haley (leading supplier of banners, display boards and pop ups) annual competition and have to answer this question
—What impact would winning the competition have to your charity —
Display boards would be used to promote the new build plans at community events and fundraisers, promote the celebrate lottery events and once the new build is complete it can be used to display the story of the old hall with the new build. Can also be used by community groups who will be using the hall to help promote their activities. A banner would be great to let the community know the new build is on the way, a pop up board would be great for community events to promote St. John’s hall meadowfield
Please can you add anymore ideas share this to help our chance of getting through to the final three which will be a public vote
Closing date 22.9.2017 #MHCharitycomp
Thank you
12th May
Great first AGM tonight. Thank you to everyone who came. Lovely positive comments about the new plans. Building costs have gone up considerably but there is an option for the hall part not to be as big but it would still hold 180 people seated and fit 10 round tables for 110 people for weddings/ parties.
This would make the back area bigger which the space could be utilised for all sorts of outdoor activities/parking. Has a meeting room for 12 people and a large kitchen that can be used for meetings as well.
All exciting if we can get the lease and raise the rest of the money!
It’s only been three years and we have achieved so much in that time.
For any enquiries please see Facebook stjohnshallmeadowfield
or contact Lesley on lesleypb@aol.com
24th April
St. John’s Hall Meadowfield AGM will be on Thursday, May 11th at 6pm in St. John’s church. The project managers will be there with the plans in 3D images.
If any one has any questions, they must be given in writing before May 7th. Please send to either Lesley Baxter (lesleypb@aol.com), Fr. Carl or David Jocelyn. All welcome.
12th February
Thank you to everyone who braved the rain and came to our fundraiser today . Over £700 raised. Unclaimed raffle prizes please contact me.
* * * * * * 2016 * * * * * *
20th December
The rock and roll night on December 2nd was a great success and £550 was raised. Thanks to Jan shoulder for organising
The next fundraiser is booked for Saturday February 11th at the British legion. An afternoon event with refreshments, tombola, raffle and craft stalls. Donations appreciated for the tombola and raffle. More details to follow.
25th November
On this Friday – 25th November 7-11pm. Fundraiser for the hall and carrside youth and community project
10th September
I went to see the new community hall at hamsteels this afternoon and it looks lovely. Mid Durham AAP are having their board meeting there on Wednesday at 6pm so I’ll be getting a proper look round. Anyone can attend this meeting where the councils budget cuts for 2017/18 will be discussed and the police crime commissioner will be giving a presentation so should be a good night. If you can attend please email Lynn.cummings@durham.gov.uk
2nd September
If anyone is interested in booking the hall please email me lesleypb@aol.com. We are writing a business plan and need to ask users what they require and what it will be used for . Also the more interested users the better for grants. Thank you , Lesley
1st September
Thank you to anyone who nominated the hall to the TSB community fund, unfortunately we weren’t successful this time.
I have had a phone call from Newcastle building society so fingers crossed that is successful. If anyone knows of any funding going please let me know, down to the last £76,000!
21st July
We need your help!
We had our first meeting with the project managers this afternoon. Please could people email or message me on what you think the hall needs. Facilities, flooring, equipment, security, large toilets so can get changed in , baby changing facilities.
The project managers are looking at the plans which went to the council but want to know exactly what it will be used for so they can tweak them .
What do you expect in a brand new community hall. It will be a dementia friendly building . And have the hearing aid loops.
Also if any one is interested in using the hall for a group/event/party/meetings etc please let me know, the more interest we get the better it is for grants . We have a waiting list for parties already. I would love it to be used for a wedding reception , the bride would have a blank canvas to to with what they want.
Hope you can help. Lesley
July
Thank you to banks community fund. Originally we were granted £5,000 which they changed to £20,000. Email received for in fact £22,000. Total so far up to £492k. By the end of July I will hear from another two potential funders. First meeting with D3 the project managers on Thursday. The saga of the land continues but we are confident the solicitor can sort it out so a lease can be granted. Next fundraiser Friday from 7pm. Only a handful of tickets left so should be a brill night
10th July
Brandon and Meadowfield residents group meeting tomorrow Monday 11th July from 6.30pm. Held at the community centre at sycamore park( turning opposite the Wok inn) Representatives from Dcc will be there to listen to your concerns regarding the Stoneacre car dealership on sawmills lane. Should be an interesting and lively meeting.
30th June
What a brilliant week for the hall fund, found out last week we had £1,500 from Co. Durham foundation trust, yesterday we were awarded another £5,000 from another donor through CDFT and today I came home to a letter from the Foyle Foundation offering £5,000. That’s £490k in the pot now. Aiming for £580k to cover all the legal fees and project manager fees. Almost there!
Next fundraiser – rock and roll night on 22nd July at the legion.
21st June
Found out today we have been granted £1,500 from co Durham foundation trust. This brings the total so far to £480,000. There is a legal issue that needs sorting out before we can move on to the next stage. In the mean time I am filling in grant applications for the rest of the building and fees costs. The budget is currently £570-580k to cover everything so only £90-100k left! If anyone sees any funding opportunities please please let Lesley know.
11th June
Rock and roll night and raffle on the 22nd July from 7pm at the legion. Tickets £3 and can be purchased from Lesley Baxter , Shirley Kidd , Jan Shoulder or behind the bar.
Thanks, Lesley Baxter
24th May
Please support the hall fund by registering at http://www.thegengame.com http://www.thegengame.com
Once registered order your smart plug and go onto “leagues” click on the northern power grid logo and a drop down menu shows you the charities set up. Any problems either contact me or of you use the contact us they are very quick at getting back to you. You can win prizes.
14th May
Thank you to everyone who came today , £937 raised for church funds. £ 1.039 eventually
22nd April
Received £1,500 this week from the William Webster trust, this brings the total in funding up to £ 477,500.
22nd April
Thank you to Jan Shoulder and Carol Cook for selling knitted ducks over Easter for the hall fund. £135.50 was raised
21st April
What a brilliant night, over 100 people old and young. A great joint event with the legion and carrside youth club. Thank you to everyone who came. £66 raised for the hall fund and all the raffle prizes were claimed. If anyone has any photos please share them. Once i get the official ones I will put them on
3rd April
I’m trying for this again, if anyone else wants to try for us that would be brilliant. The postcode is dh7 8rg. Budget we are aiming for is £550,000 to include fees. There is a top prize of £150,000 which would be enough for the rest of the building costs and landscaping/car parking and regional prizes of materials Which would still be a great help.
https://www.buildingbettercommunities.co.uk/ – Building Better Communities is back with £250,000 available to transform local communities
25th March
Found out yesterday that a funder who pledged £5,000 before the fire have now offered £20,000, subject to some form filling, if successful that’s brings the total raised to £475,000. Nearly there!
I will be at Brandon welfare hall on Easter Sunday with some jewellery and Tombola raising money for the hall fund as well as the clothing bank. 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm
13th March
Latest with the hall incase you were wondering why nothing was happening on the site. An appointment of a project manager or a builder can’t start until we have a few things finalised. One was to become a registered charity known as St. John’s hall Meadowfield , this was confirmed on 22nd February. Another part is to sort out a new lease with the current owners of the land which is the Lord Boyne estates. This is currently in the hands of the solicitors. Finally we need to raise enough money to complete the building and the conditions of the planning permission. We have raised £450,000 so far plus £11,000 from community fundraising. Planning permission has been granted and building control have seen the plans. We do need to raise more than the original £500k budget to cover the project manager fees. Another grant claim went off last week and I have some more to look at. Any questions please message me and I will try and answer any queries or concerns you may have. Thanks Lesley
27th February
Thank you to everyone who came today, the stall holders, all the helpers and organisers. Over £980 raised for the rebuild fund so thank you so much, that’s over £11,000 raised by the community since the fire.
22nd February
Had some great news this morning that St John’s Hall Meadowfield is now a registered charity. Number 1165657. It now means that the hall is its own entity and can hopefully put in claims for funding from the lottery, postcode lottery , health lottery and any others I can find.
14th January
Fundraiser for the hall rebuild on Saturday 27th February from 1.30pm. Craft stalls, activities for children, refreshments, tombola and raffle. Special appearance from Anna and Elsa. Donations needed for tombola, there is a box at the back of the church entrance under the table. Donations on the day of cakes/cup cakes would be appreciated.
14th January
Planing permission has been granted. Next stage is the building control submission, appoint a project manager, appoint a builder. Still need to raise funding. Aiming for a budget of £550,000 to include fees. Total funding so far £431,000.
* * * * * * 2015 * * * * * *
29th November
I’ve applied to ASDA spennymoor to be included in their green token scheme, I don’t know if it would help but if others could nominate us too? I just went on Asda spennymoor website and their green token scheme is on the right hand side and press the nominate button. Only needs a few words. Thanks
22nd November
Planning permission advert in Durham times. Any queries please contact me and hopefully I answer any questions you may have.
19th November
Another £10,000 in the pot. That’s a total of £105,000 in funding plus £316k from insurance. Getting there slowly.
25th September
Thank you to the British legion, Six nowt and everyone who came tonight, a brilliant night.
A brilliant £467 was raised tonight , thank you to everyone who came.
20th September
Advance tickets for our fundraiser on Friday 25th at the British legion. Some great raffle prizes including a £50 voucher from an Indian restaurant in Durham, beamish day tickets, diggerland vouchers and many more. Please can you share. Tickets from myself or at the legion. All advanced tickets in a draw to win a bottle of vodka. I can keep tickets back and just pay on the night. Thank you , Lesley
31st August
For the month of September St johns hall fund is through to the green token scheme at ASDA living in the Arnison centre. Please make sure you get your token when shopping. Lesley baxter will there on the 19th promoting the hall with the new plans between 10 am and 4pm.
Tickets now on sale for the next fundraiser on the 25th September at the royal British legion. six Nowt play 70’s mod hits and a raffle. £3 in advance or £3.50 on the door. All advanced tickets will be out in a draw to win a prize. Please contact Lesley baxter or Shirley Kidd for tickets.
27th August
Fundraiser night at the British Legion
Tickets are on sale NOW. Please contact me to arrange payment and collection. I will be taking some to the legion at the weekend. Tickets can also be bought from Shirly Kidd. £3 in advance Or £3.50 on the night.every ticket has a number and there will be a raffle done in the break for a prize for ticket holders.
22nd August
Thank you to everyone to helped and came to the latest fundraiser, another £325 in the pot. Hope everyone had a good time. I am disappointed not as many people as the last one in February so need ideas on how to advertise events.
3rd August
Help needed on Friday 21st August to transport some tables from church to the footballers club. Anyone with a van or large car as the tables are 6 foot. Please PM Lesley
2nd August
From 1st September for the month if you are at ASDA living in the Arnison centre please vote for St John’s Hall Meadowfield in the green token scheme. Can win up to £200 and hopefully go through the community fund money to help with the rebuild. I will be there on the 19th September between 10am to 4pm with a collection bucket. If anyone can spare some time over the day please join me, it would be appreciated.
***Tickets on sale soon for the evening of 25th September, group Six Nowt
and a raffle. £3 a ticket and from Lesley Baxter 0784 6542035 ***
28th July
Volunteers needed for the event on 22nd August, cake stall, bottle bags, bouncy castles bouncers, if you can spare half hour so we can give people a chance to see what else is there it would be great. Please message me. Any donations of sweets or bottles please PM me so I collect. We also have the police coming with the quad bike.
Cakes can be taken on the day or contact Lesley Baxter for collecting the day before . 07846542035
Thank you , Lesley
25th July
Thank you to mid Mid Durham Area Action Partnership (AAP) for the £200 from their small grants. This will go towards the August and September fundraisers.Posted
24th July
Volunteers needed for the event on 22nd August, cake stall, bottle bags, bouncy castles bouncers, if you can spare half hour so we can give people a chance to see what else is there it would be great. Please message me. Any donations of sweets or bottles please PM me so I collect. Thank you , Lesley
Posted 23rd July
Sent off a couple more grant applications tonight so fingers crossed. At the last count we had £60,000 confirmed and there is an offer of another £35,000 (need to complete application forms and it has to be approved) so along with the insurance money we have £411,000 so only £89,000 short from the £500,000 target ! Still waiting to hear outcome of three more I applied for a few months ago. We also have £19,000 from DCC neighbourhood budget for the planing stage and any underspend will go towards the building. Applied to Asda to be part of their green token scheme and if successful can then go forward to their community fund for between £5,000 and £10,000. Also have the community fundraising and donations of £9,000 and £9,750 from the insurance for equipment. Have an idea to sell bricks and name plaques so the community can have their name on the building and also kept some old bricks. The application for the charity was sent today so once we get a charity number more grants can be applied for. Once we have the funding for the hall we need to get the church entrance widened and think about the Parking arrangements. The back of the hall needs to be landscaped so fundraising will continue. Thank you to everyone who has helped over the last 16 months
Posted 22nd July
Met with DCC planners today, was a productive meeting and just need to a few tweaks to the latest plans of the new build. They prefer the new all brick front but do not like the green cladding (it was the first choice after two consultation events) a new colour needs to be chosen. Parking was also discussed and we have a few options to look at to avoid using all of the green space at the back of the building.The Diocese and St johns church need to be involved as the entrance to the church needs to be widened, this isn’t included in the £500k budget so more costs are needed. Thank you to councillors Paul Taylor and John turnbull for coming today. As for funding we should have enough now to build the outside structure, just need to raise more to cover the fixtures and fitting, electrics and heating. so nearly there! Still waiting to hear from a few places I have applied for and complete an application form for DCC neighbourhood budget. The application to become a CIO should be sent to the charity commission this week. Hoping we can apply for more grants once we have a charity number. An advert has to be placed in two national papers to make sure no one has any interest in the land, it has always been assumed the land is still owned by the Boyne estates as per a 1949 lease, then a lease can be set up between the diocese (they manage the land on behalf of the owners), St. John’s PCC and St. John’s hall meadowfield.
Posted 12th July
£649 to go into the fund tomorrow as proceeds from the fayre last week. Thanks to all who came. The running total rasied since last June from fundraising is £7,072! There are also donations of £1,903. A big thank you to you all.
Posted 4th July
Thank you to everyone who came to the Fayre today, approx £1300 raised to be split between the hall fund and church funds.
Next hall fundraiser 22nd August at the footballers club from 12pm.
Posted 28th June
Thank you to Meadowfield brownies /guides for the lovely donations to the tombola for the Summer Fayre next Saturday.
Posted 16th June
Would you like to be included in a book about the old hall? If you have any memories or photos please contact me and your story could be used! Mine were mainly the discos in the 80’s. I lived at broom park so Brandon seemed miles away! Was the time before mobiles so no photos.
Posted 3rd June
Summer fayre – Saturday, July 4 at 12:00pm – St Johns Church Brandon
Posted 28th May
Received a chq for £1,000 today from persimmon homes community champions
Posted 17th May
The hall is in with a chance of winning £25,000 from Aviva insurance please vote https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/412
or e mail Lesley for link, lesleypb@aol.com
£1,000 awarded from persimmon homes community fund
£19,000 awarded from councillors Paul Taylor and John Turnbull. This pays for the planning stage. Any underspend will go towards the new build.
The Pre planning application was submitted in April and will take up to 12 weeks. Then the site investigations will take place before the full application is submitted by Brandon and Byshottles parish council. They have kindly agreed to do this in our behalf as they get a discount for community buildings.
Fundraising events-
Saturday July 4th Fayre at church (joint event with church funds). Craft stalls, body shop, Osborne books, face painting , plants, bric a brac, Ice cream van, cake stalls, refreshments, tombola and raffle. From 12 pm. Any donations for tombola, cake stall or bric a brac appreciated. Unsold cd’s &DVDs can be sold after the event
Saturday August 22nd from 12 pm at the footballers Club, Brandon a family fun day. Pet party North East will be there with various pets including snakes, spiders, ghekos, millipedes, plus furry animals rabbits, Guinea pigs and rats. Candle making for kids and adults, card stall, tombola , cake stall, refreshments and more. 50p and tickets from Lesley Baxter in advance
Friday September 25 th at Meadowfield British legion club from 7pm. Band Six Nowt , covers including the specials, the jam, sex pistols and more . Raffle . Tickets £3 from Lesley Baxter
Posted 2nd April
Productive day yesterday, got the name changed on the Facebook page – to
St Johns Hall Meadowfield
please share to your Friends, the more likes we have the better for grant claims. Applied to Jewsons again and also had a tip off for Aviva who are doing community grants. Will find out soon if these two have made it to the public vote and will be sharing the links for people to vote. The Aviva one is worth £25,000 and the Jewsons anything from £1,000 to £100,000. Hoping to find out soon if some funding is approved then we can apply to Dcc for the pre planning application to see what we need to get to the full planning stage. Also had a call from a organisation who I applied for some funding last November and they are coming to visit in May, sounds promising as he is coming up from York. Seeing a premises tomorrow for a fundraising event planned for August. Next fundraising committee is 11th April if anyone has ideas or would like to volunteer to help out at events, will be needing cake and scone makers, tombola and raffle prizes. Have a lovely Easter.
Posted 28th March
What a brilliant night at browney club. Over £1300 raised for the hall fund. Thank you to everyone who came and especially to Brandon parish council and North Road
Posted 12th March
Got home to a chq for £30,000 from Garfield Weston. Yippee
Posted 11th March
Charity night for the hall fund. Best thing is that organised by someone else so I just turn up stress free. Thank you to Brandon Parish Council.
Browney Social Club
Hi, We are having a chairmans charity evening on Saturday 28th March 7pm-11pm towards the rebuild of St Johns Church Hall Meadowfield. Entertainment from live band North Road, a magician, raffle, tombola and a buffet. Tickets are £3 and are available from behind the bar or contact 0191 3789947.
All welcome and hope to see you there. lease like and share.
Posted 9th March
If you can spare five minutes please can you nominate St Johns Hall to win some money. Please call the scheme St Johns Hallabd the post code DH7 8RG, Thank you. – https://www.buildingbettercommunities.co.uk
Posted 24th February
Final figure to be banked is £1,536.00. Thank you everyone.
that’s over £5,200 the community have raised since March 2014.
Posted 18th February
Not long now for the Fundraiser ,tombola is going to be massive. Greggs cakes, tesco Easter eggs, raffle including wok inn and bay horse voucher. Please tell your friends
Posted 17th February
Need a name for the new hall. There already is St. John’s community hall registered with the charity commission so ideas needed for a unique name please
Posted 15th January
Help is needed with baking cakes/pies, tombola prizes. If you have any CDs or DVD’s they could be sold towards funds and any left over could be sold to magpie or donated to charity. Any ideas appreciated to raise as much money as possible.
Posted 7th January
Public event to see new plans on Saturday, January 31 at 2:30pm at St Johns Church Brandon
Posted 3rd January
Any donations towards a tombola for adults and another for children for February would be greatly appreciated. We have Prof nincompoop the children’s entertainer and the bouncy castle for the younger kids as well as facepainting, glitter tattoos, refreshments, and stalls for Easter and Mother’s Day gifts. Any bakers can bring cakes/pies/scones from 12.30pm. The event opens 1.30 to 3.30pm. All proceeds are towards the hall fund.
* * * * * * 2014 * * * * * *
Posted 31st December
A fundraiser for the hall fund has been organised for saturday February 21st at meadowfield sport centre between 1.30-3.30pm, volunteers are needed to sell refreshments, sell raffle tickets, supervise the bouncy castle. If you can spare half an hour it would be a great help . Please PM Lesley.
Posted 20th December
Got a cheque for £500 today from the Catherine Cookson Trust for the hall fund. That’s £30,500 in grants and nearly £4,000 from fundraising.
Posted 6th December
We have knitters on board making hats, scarves baby wear etc. We need donations of wool please and plenty of it. If you have any to spare shout out loud please
Posted 22nd November
Another big thank you to everyone who bought tickets for last night, people who donated raffle prizes and the ones who came and got up and danced. The total raised was a brilliant £616.00. This brings the total raised by the community since March to ………..£3,901. Thank you all. Next event booked is the 21st February at Meadowfield sports centre between 1.30 pm and 3.30 pm. Details to follow so watch this space!
Posted 17th November
Hall fundraiser event Friday 21st November 7pm meadowfield club.
Church fayre for church funds Saturday November 22nd from1pm
Christingle service for children’s society December 14th at 3pm
Christmas Eve Eucharist – 7pm, collection to let the children live.
Event for hall/church funds Saturday, 21st February 2014 1.30 to 3.30, details to follow.
Posted 15th November
Last week for tickets, any requests for songs? Got some great raffle prizes.
Fundraiser night Friday 21st November 2014 – Friday at 7:00pm
Meadowfield and district social club, Frederick street south, meadowfield, DH7 8LZ
Posted 15th November
Drop off clothes, toiletries, nappies, to St. John’s church on Wednesdays between 10-11am. Last colection December 3rd for this year. Collection will start again in January date to be annouced. Clothing bank on Tuesdays 25th November and 9th December at Brandon Welfare Hall. Run up to Christmas toys, sweets and selection boxes wanted. Thank you.
Posted 6th November
What would you like the new build to look like? I have plans from a feasibility study for an idea. I want the stage in the middle and a back door out onto the garden ( another plan of mine) Also I saved some bricks from the old building to do something with the burnt sign that was also saved. It has been suggested people can ‘buy a brick’ towards the funds. Your name can’t be carved on it as they are so old but a plan of the bricks will be on show with which one yours is! I’m meeting an architect soon so any ideas greatly received. Thanks
Posted 30th August
I have an intial cost for a new building but insurers want me to look at alternatives to a brick building so any ideas anyone or examples of good community halls?
Will be grateful for any thoughts.
Posted 27th August
Thank you to everyone who bought a teddy name or came to our stall at tesco last week, another £55.50 in the pot. Since the fire £3,184.07 has been raised by the community through various ways, keep them coming! Thank you again. Lesley
Posted 13th August
Another fundraiser this Friday afternoon between 1pm and 5 pm at Langley moor tesco. Bric a brac and name the bear. Thank you to Shirly Aberdeen.
Posted 10th August
If anyone knows who pinched some fencing from the hall and tried to get some scrap metal please let me know. Also let them know if they had waited until the clearance had finished they could have took it anyway with a donation to the fund. Also they will be covered in asbestos dust.
Posted 5th August
£388 collected so far from Sunday, thank you to everyone who bought crosses, raffle tickets, bought from the stalls. The collection in church raised £164 for
the Poppy Appeal.
Posted August 4th
Day one of the clearance, don’t worry I won’t be putting a daily photo on!
Fundraiser – Friday, November 21st @ 7pm at Meadowfield Club, featuring the group – PLAYBACK. 60’s, 70’s , 80’s music right up to the present. Pjus Raffle & disco. Tickets will be £5 available through Lesley
Posted July 30th
All ready for Sundays memorial service, March from British legion 10.45am, collection during the service towards the poppy appeal, crosses can be bought from at John’s church or the British legion to be laid by the trees at the front of the church, donations towards the hall fund, service at the war memorial at Brandon village then refreshments, stalls, raffle at the legion. The church will be open on Monday between 9am and 12 pm. Please use side entrance as the car park will be used for the contractors clearing the hall.
Posted 25th July 2014
Clearance starting 4th August, Monday to Saturday 8am to 4pm. For 28 days All vehicles will be using the church car park so restrictions at the main entrance. Please park in the council car park. Any queries or concerns please contact me. Lesley
Posted 11th July 2014
Just to remind our lovely residents of Burnhope, Satley, New Brancepeth, Brandon and Brancepth that we will be holding our village surgeries in the next two weeks so come along and let us know about your village and how together we can improve it – if it does indeed need any improvements:
Burnhope – Monday 14 July, 5 till 7pm in the Social Club
Satley – Tuesday 15 July, 6 till 7pm in the Village Hall
New Brancepeth – Saturday 19 July, 10 till 12 noon in the Village hall
Brandon – Saturday 19 July, 2 till 4pm in the Welfare Hall
Brancepeth – Monday 21 July, 5 till 7pm in the Village Hall
You can also message me if you can’t make the drop in. Lesley
Posted July 10th – Great news
Thank you to staff and residents of Appletree hospital in meadowfield. They held a dress down day and BBQ and raised £45 for the hall fund. It’s great to see the community pulling together, any one who has any ideas on fundraising please get in touch. Anything raised will be greatly appreciated.
Posted July 6th – On Sunday, August 3 at 10:45am there will be a March from the British legion with a band and banners about 10.45am to St Johns church, then a service including the last post until 11.45am, collection for the poppy appeal, march back to British legion, either travel to the war memorial in Brandon village for a short service or have a cup of tea in the legion. Official opening of the memorial room followed by refreshments. All donations towards the refreshments to the hall fund.
UPCOMING – St Johns Church Hall Meadowfield – 14 hours ago
Saturday 19th July at Brandon welfare hall, 10am to 12pm . Share your views on Brandon/meadowfield/Langley moor with Mid Durham AAP and don’t forget to mention that a community building is needed in meadowfield, I need as much support as I can, thank you.
June 28
Thank you to everyone who came to the church fayre which raised an amazing £2,145 to be split between the church and hall plus an extra donation to the hall of £100. Unclaimed raffle winners to be announced soon.
June 27
Thank you for Brandon co-op and Langley moor Tesco’s customers for buying raffle tickets. Hope you are lucky
June 21st
To let everyone know the costs so far so you know that anything raised is much needed Emergency work on the Sunday came to £2,300, cost to clear the site to foundations level and fees £108,000. Cost of rebuild approx £500,000, less cost of settlement which is still unknown. As you can see the cost of the damage is over £600,000 so a lot of money will be needed to get a hall the size it was. I have £30,000 so far plus donations and fundraising events of £1,360, I have two grant applications on hold until costs are known. I have a number of grants to apply for and I am determined to rebuild a 350m2 building that was there before. It will take a while so be patient and any ideas of funding streams, fundraising or volunteers to help will be greatly appreciated. Just message or post any ideas you have. Thanks for all your support. Lesley
June 16th
Don’t forget Friday night is the fundraiser at the British legion 7pm till 11pm. Even if you don’t have tickets you can come for a drink in the bar and buy raffle tickets. Update on clearance, just waiting for start date which we’ve tried to work round the church’s calendar of weddings and the WW1 Commemoration service on 3rd August. There will be disruption to the car park and main entrance but I’ll keep everyone up to date with what’s happening. The works will take 3-4weeks, the men in white suits will be there every day at the beginning. The next wedding is in September so should be all finished by then. The costs of the clearance are coming in a lot more I had wanted so all fundraising no matter how big or small is much needed. Hoping for a settlement figure in a couple of weeks. Any queries just message me. Thanks Lesley
June 4th
There is a WW1 memorial service starting with a march down from the legion at 10.45 am with a band and the banners, a church service at 11.00 then a service at the war memorial at brandon village to lay wreaths. The church collection is for the poppy appeal. Tea and coffee will be available at the legion after the service for those not going to the memorial. After the laying of the wreaths there will be an official opening of the memorial room in the British legion followed by refreshments. Donations for the hall fund can be given on the day and crosses will be on sale for a donation to the hall to remember WW1 at St. John’s church and the British legion. These can be laid next to the trees at the front of the church. For any details please contact Jill Rodgers on 07770 679365
May 9th
Update on hall, Elliott Johnson Ltd have been appointed to deal with Stage 1- the clearance of the site. If anyone saw activity at the hall today don’t get too excited, it was the company carrying out the asbestos survey so the tender can be written for the clearance. Tenders will go out and interested parties will put their quotes in. Once the contractor has been appointed then planning permission has to put to DCC for the demolition. this unfortunately,takes time. The site is to cleared completely and grass seeded over. Stage 2 – At the same time a feasibility study is been carried out to determine a reinstatement value. Then I should get an offer from the insurance company . Plans will be drawn up for a new build for the size the hall was 350m2. Then the shortfall will be known. Fundraising has begun and the response from the community has been overwhelming, it proves that the hall is needed and people are wanting to raise money to see a new hall built.
St Johns Hall Meadowfield 