East Lothian Courier | News | Rallying to save their village hall

Thursday, 20th November, 2008

Published: Thursday, 7th August, 2008 08:00

Rallying to save their village hall

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FIFTY residents have rallied to secure the future of Gullane Village Hall, which had been under threat of closure.

Crisis talks were called last week after trustees of the Gullane Community Association (GCA) warned that the hall – used by a dozen local groups for meetings and activities – was in danger of closing if more residents didn’t assist with fundraising and volunteering.

Villagers packed the hall for the extraordinary general meeting and the response has given organisers new heart.

GCA chairman John McCollam told the Courier: “It was heartening to see that many people wanted the hall to be kept open.

“It was a far better turn out than I had expected and we came up with a lot of ideas for fundraising and other activities.

“We made it clear that if they wanted a village hall, they would have do something for it.”

The hall is currently run by the four trustees of the GCA on an annual grant of £500. Additional funding is currently needed to refurbish the interior and buy new furniture and members are looking to recruit a new secretary to the GCA.

All those who attended last week’s meeting provided their names and phone numbers and listed the skills they could contribute to the running of the hall.

Three volunteers also stepped forward to take on the responsibility of carrying out daily checks of the building.

GCA members are now busy drumming up support for the hall’s 50th anniversary celebrations, taking place in October. A wide range of activities are already planned, including a tea dance, ecumenical service, an ‘auction of promises’ – to which local people and businesses are urged to donate a variety of prizes – and a jazz concert.

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