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BORDEN VILLAGE HALL APPEAL 2008 Borden Village is a small hamlet, with only eleven dwellings in the village itself, but its catchment area includes Trotton Hollow, Rondle Wood, Chithurst Lane, Green Lane, Kingsham and Cooks Pond Road (where several properties were once within the Borden Wood Estate). The Village Hall has further friends over a wider area, including Trotton, central Milland, Fyning and Terwick. One of its three original Trustees, and subsequently its Hon. Secretary for half a century, was Miss Joan Quennell of Dangstein, in Rogate parish. A Bit of History Borden Village Hall was built in 1873 as a village school to serve the parish of Chithurst. It is now in the local government parish of Milland. For many years the building was also used for Chithurst and Trotton parish council meetings and for church services, since the nearest churches were some distance away. After the Second World War the building was no longer required as a school and in 1946 it was acquired and donated as a Village Hall ‘dedicated to the use of the people of Borden Village’ by Dr Winifred Lamb of Borden Wood House and Lady Constance ‘Kit’ Gowers of Rondle Wood. In its early days it was regularly used by the Borden Village Club, an active local social group.
Management and Use of the Hall The Hall is a registered charity managed by a committee of Trustees. Many local people have served as Trustees over the years. The committee is chaired by Sally Maybury; its Hon. Secretary is Tricia Watts and its Hon. Treasurer is Sasha Boam. The other Trustees are Neil Chasteauneuf, Alan Cooper, Helen Cooper, Roger Eade, Danny Puttick, Sid Newman, Paul Strike and Jacqui Woodhams. There is also a small fundraising group (Sasha Boam, Alan Cooper, Val Porter and Philip Watts). The Hall is used annually for two major social events: the Harvest Supper in October and the Carol Party in December, both of which are hugely popular; and for the Children’s Party in January. It is used on a regular basis as a meeting place for Fyning, Terwick & Borden Residents Association and on occasion for parish council meetings, private parties, shoot lunches, talks, whist drives, rehearsals.
What the Hall Needs Now There has been a tendency since the war to ‘patch and mend’ this venerable stone building, often by the labours of volunteers who cherish the place. Some major improvements have been made in recent years, such as refurbishment of the kitchen & the installation of the Hall’s first flushing toilet. But the time came for a serious reappraisal of its general state of repair and in 2007 a Surveyor gave a detailed report on every aspect of the Hall. The survey revealed the need for some basic work: · Complete overhaul of rainwater removal system to deal with damp problem, including installation of new drainage system · Reinforcement or rebuilding of external bank-retaining walls · Attention to roof and chimney · Repair, alteration or replacement of all windows and doors · Interior decoration · Substantially improved heating and lighting Fundraising Over the decades, fundraising has been by way of mostly small social events. An important contribution has always been the personal generosity of people like Graham and Alys Ferguson, who have annually donated part of the proceeds from the opening of their beautiful gardens at the Malthouse to the benefit of the Hall, and have also allowed their gardens to be used for fund-raising social evenings. Other venues that have been used on several occasions for major fundraising events in recent years are Dangstein (courtesy of the late Miss Quennell) and Gatehouse Barn (by kind permission of the Butler family). The events at these venues have included black-tie dinner dances, barn dances, Midsummer Madness parties and so on. The Hall has also benefited from the generosity of Mrs Sarah Bolt of Chithurst, who presented a profitable ‘Evening with Sarah Miles’ on behalf of the Hall’s funds and who has also supported all of its social events, for example by giving readings at the Carol Party and bringing friends to other events. In addition the Carol Concert has been enhanced by the Linden Singers and others, especially pianist Peter Thomas. The Hall has benefited from grants from Milland Parish Council at a nominal level but boosted in 2008 to a generous one-off £1,000. And it has just benefited from a very generous donation from Mark and Deirdre Donegan of Kingsham Farm to launch this new fundraising appeal. The Trustees are now faced with the challenge of raising considerably more than has ever been raised before, in order to maintain the fabric of the Hall and to improve its facilities to the standards of the 21st century. Part of the target is to meet the immediate needs identified by the Surveyor; but the Trustees also need to build up a solid reserve for longer-term maintenance and improvements and to encourage greater regular use of the Hall to ensure that ongoing annual running costs are adequately covered. The chicken-and-egg part of these aims is that regular use is unlikely to increase unless and until the facilities are improved, especially with regard to heating and lighting. The present fundraising targets are: · A minimum of £10,000 for immediate works · A further £15,000 as a reserve fund for future maintenance and improvements.
The Fundraising group proposes to meet this challenge by: · Organising minor and major fundraising events during 2008, including: o Whist Drive at the Hall (19 February) o Wine-tasting Evening at the Hall (28 March) o Children’s Woodland Wool Hunt (7 April) o Soft Toy Rescue stall and raffle at Milland Rural Fair (1st June) o Midsummer Madness at Gatehouse Barn (4th July) o Arts & Crafts Exhibition (summer) o Local gardens tour (summer) o Silver Plate Dinner with Auction of Promises (autumn) o Table-share (buy part or all of a new table for the Hall) o Farm trailer tours o New Year’s Day Walk (1 January 2009)
· Seeking private donations, large and small, from individuals and businesses within the catchment area, and from the National Trust from its sale of Dangstein · Accepting the goodwill of local builders and trades that have offered to work on the building for greatly reduced rates · Setting up a 100 Club or similar as a source of regular income · Suggesting, encouraging and innovating regular use of the Hall by various local groups (existing or new); for example: o Talks Club (e.g. aromatherapy; gamekeeping; local history; gardening) o Book Club o Cookery Club o Art Group o Children’s Club (BV Beavers) o Local produce market How You Can Help We are now appealing for your personal help in rescuing Borden Village Hall, as we all believe fervently that it is well worth saving for future generations. Your contribution, large or small, in cash or in kind, will be hugely appreciated. You might like to consider:
· Supporting the fundraising events by coming along to them · Suggesting other fundraising ideas · Helping to run a fundraising event · Joining the BVH 100 Club · Organising a new club to use the Hall regularly · Donating a cash sum, either as a one-off or on a more regular basis (and if possible signing a Gift Aid declaration form) · Volunteering for any working parties that might be needed · Becoming a Trustee of the Hall Get in Touch If you would like to know more, contact any member of the Fundraising Group:
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Borden Village School (1930) from “The Bothy” |
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Borden Village Hall (1958) |
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The latest information about the Parish churches and services has now been added to the Churches Page on this website. |
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The WSCC Mobile Library Service Please see DIARY NOTES for Days/Dates etc. |
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A message from Val Porter
We’d like to start a TALKS CLUB at Borden Village Hall & are sounding you out to see whether any of the following subjects (for which we already have potential speakers) might interest you & whether you can suggest other topics and speakers.
· HMS Victory and Cutty Sark · Aromatherapy and other complementary therapies · Cycling with a toddler · Game keeping · Living in France · This acting business · Sri Lanka · Environmental issues in the Valley · Men’s health · Mushroom hunting and other foraging · Gardening tips · Peru · African adventures · Saving the rainforests · Rescuing old buildings · Local history · Farming practices: traditional and modern · Book binding · Sculpture · Polo
We’d also like your views on the best evening of the week for such talks. The idea is that the evening might start at, say, 7pm, with a break for refreshments, and finishing around 8.30 or 9.00, but again we’d like your views on times. There is no commitment to come to the Talks, though in due course we hope to establish a fairly regular pattern so that we know how many people to expect. Contact Val Porter (01428 741403, or email val.porter@virgin.net) with your views, or return the form to me at West Kingsham, Milland, Liphook GU30 7JY.
Name: …………………………………………………………………….……. Contact details: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... Tick the subjects of interest to you: HMS Victory and Cutty Sark Aromatherapy and other complementary therapies Cycling with a toddler Game keeping Living in France This acting business Sri Lanka Environmental issues in the Valley Men’s health Mushroom hunting and other foraging Gardening tips Peru African adventures Saving the rainforests Rescuing old buildings Local history Farming practices: traditional and modern Book binding Sculpture Polo Suggest your own ideas for subjects:
Which evenings do you think the Talks should be held?
And at what time?
Other comments: |
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It’s the ROGATE FLOWER SHOW once again and this year its on Saturday 2nd August 2008. Here are just some of the many classes you could enter!
Vegetables & Fruit, always very popular and can get quite competitive, but in a nice way of course! Flowers, were the exhibits must be grown by you, to the — Flower Art Classes, were foliage & flowers need not be grown by the exhibitor themselves. Cooking, one of our favourites and that for certain! Handicrafts, from “Home made toys” to “Hand Made Greetings Cards” something for all the family here sorely? Photography, ranging from “Men at Work” possible a bit sexes there but never mind! To “A Fish” well the mind boggles! Children’s Classes, age ranges from “Under 8 yrs” to “8 — 12 yrs” & all include plenty of categorise to chose from. Have some FUN! |
