A weekend of fun and celebration was had by all attendees in Little Thetford this weekend to mark the achievements of their recent funding gain and hall improvements.
Little Thetford hosted an open day on 11 May 2024 to celebrate their recent Village Hall improvements, due to recently-obtained funding from the Platinum Jubilee Fund, a fund that celebrated 70 years of Her Majesty The Queen’s reign. Julie Spence, OBE CStJ QPM, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and Cambridgeshire ACRE’s president was able to join the occasion alongside Little Thetford residents. Julie spoke about the importance of community action and how the work conducted at Little Thetford VH had further improved the community facility for future generations. A huge achievement for the volunteers devoting their free time towards the Hall maintenance and refurbishment.
As the president of Cambridgeshire ACRE, Julie also presented the hall committee with their Hallmark 2 certificate and wished them well as they move forward to undertake Hallmark 3. She remarked on the importance of the Hallmark Quality Scheme, allowing village hall communities to feel confident that they are a well-run hall. Hallmark is a nationally-recognised quality standard for village halls and community buildings, giving these facilities the confidence that their hall is well-run when assessed against nationally-set benchmarks.
As part of the weekend’s entertainments, Little Thetford were one of the first Village Hall committees to be able to stage the travelling ‘Cambridgeshire ACRE Exhibition’ which tells of the charity’s work over the last 100 years during this Centenary year. Not only is this an exhibition of the charity’s fascinating work, it also tells the story of rural people and their lives and wellbeing over the last 100 years. For many reading the boards, the exhibition brought back memories of past times living in a rural community and also enabled them to reflect on what the future needs for rural people might be. They commented about the vital role the village hall plays in allowing people to socialise and how proud they are of the village’s recent achievements in all the improvements that had been undertaken.
If you are interested in hiring our Centenary Exhibition, please contact us here.
