VOLUNTEERS are celebrating the news that Wollaston Village Hall has been awarded £18,000 of National Lottery funding to carry out vital repairs.

The money will be used to complete repairs required by the fire service to ensure the safety of the building and its facilities for its users.

The hall, located off Bridgnorth Road in Wollaston, closed five years ago during the Covid outbreak and the original committee were unable to re-open the hall.

But last year a new group of local volunteers set about getting the hall back into operation for the community.

The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will help to pay for improvements which will help make the hall sustainable for the future.

Works earmarked include widening the front door to comply with fire safety regulations, making improvements to the front and rear doors for disabled access, refurbishing the toilets as well as ensuring that all facilities comply with all new legislation.

Committee member Kate Bennett said: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to press on with our plans. This is important because it means that we can start generating revenue and become self-supporting whilst offering a valuable resource to the community.”

Chairperson Craig Simmonds added: “We have faced so many challenges over the last year and overcome them so we are delighted that our hard work has been recognised and we can start moving forward. Thank you so much to National Lottery and all the people who support it.”

National Lottery players raise more than £30 million a week for UK good causes. Last year (2023/24) The National Lottery Community Fund awarded £686.3 million to communities across the UK, supporting more than 13,700 projects.