[T]he demolition of Stainton Village Hall is programmed for Monday morning starting around 9.00am, to allow the build of a new hall on the site to act as a Community Services Hub for the village.
The Stainton Village Hall Committee has been fundraising for the past 10 years or more, with many residents helping by holding sales, events, quizzes and other community events, to get the money to rebuild the hall. With this local funding, and strong support from the Big Lottery Fund, Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust, Dacre Parish Council, Eden District Council, The Lakes Free Range Egg Company, Garfield Weston Foundation, Hadfield Trust, and Cumbria County Council, the target has been reached to allow the rebuild to be done.
The old hall was originally a wooden recreation hut outside Fusehill Hospital in Carlisle, used by injured WW1 soldiers. It was bought by Stainton Institute in 1919, taken down and re-erected on site in Stainton by J Richardson & Son on foundations laid out by the Penrith Rural District Council in 1920. The old account book for Stainton Institute names many local people who contributed in 1919 & 1920 to the new Institute, as well as listing all the contractors involved in the work.
Since then the hall has been a key element of life in Stainton, with many dances, parties, classes, and beer festivals enjoyed in the venue. It has been extended, improved, and re-roofed over the decades, but to fit modern needs, a new structure is needed. However, to mark and celebrate the old hall, the Committee would welcome any stories or photographs of the old building that anyone can contribute.
The demolition work and the rebuild is being undertaken by Thomas Armstrong (Construction) Ltd. And it is hoped that the village will be celebrating the opening of the new hall and Community Services Hub in the autumn.
