Funding boost for West Moors Memorial Hall increases local access

08th July 2021

Users of West Moors Memorial Hall will notice some big changes when its doors reopen at end of lockdown – and it’s all thanks to a grant from our Neighbourhood Fund.

We're delighted to give the much-used community hub £1,400 to transform the outside parking space, creating more bays for disabled drivers and giving it a fresh makeover with the repainting of existing white lines.

 

The Memorial Hall – which has been serving locals since it was built in 1929 ­– landed the funding as part of our new Neighbourhood Fund, which aims to get £100,000 to deserving causes across its operating region this year.

 

Managers applied for the cash after noticing that many elderly locals were having to drive to their favourite clubs and societies based at the Hall when it opened briefly after the first lockdown last summer due to social distancing rules.

 

Current community groups holding meetings there include a local horticultural society, charity Caring Canines, East Dorset Craft Club and East Dorset National Trust.

 

Improving the car park is good news for the village too, as it is also used by worshippers attending St Mary’s Church and parents visiting the nearby St Mary’s CE primary school.

Janine Plaistow said everyone in the village was very much looking forward to resuming community activities when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

 

“West Moors Memorial Hall is very much a pillar for the community as everyone benefits from the space. Many of our key clubs and societies have not been able to operate for over a year as the elderly have been shielding.

 

“The village has an elderly population and we expect car sharing will be less popular in future. We are really pleased to have the extra space in this car park as we come out of the pandemic,” said Plaistow.

 

“The hall as always been a valuable place to socialise and South West Water’s funding has enabled us to provide this service safely. It is hugely generous of South West Water and we are very grateful for such a contribution”.

 

Jo Ecroyd, South West Water customer service director, added, “The community connections that places like West Moors Memorial Hall provide are all the more vital as we start to come out of a year of lockdown restrictions. We’re so happy that South West Water’s Neighbourhood Fund is able to increase the accessibility to benefit the locals in North Devon after such a difficult time.”

 

We're giving back to the region it works within and cares about by actively improving the lives of its people and the places they love for generations to come. The pandemic has emphasised the importance of local communities and we're investing in supporting people across Devon and Cornwall to build back and connect communities. The Neighbourhood Fund is making a tangible difference to the lives of people living in Devon and Cornwall.

 

We're making this investment to better the lives of local people through funding projects which protect nature and the environment for the benefit of community health and well-being; provide new opportunities for people to learn and develop; bring communities together, virtually or physically – when safe to do so; and/or support the upkeep of local neighbourhood centres and facilities to keep communities strong.