Category: Parish Hall

Warcop Parish Hall Trustees have successfully applied for a series of grants which will enable it to improve the facilities at the hall and to enhance its provision. The Trustees are grateful to the Lottery, Eden District Council’s Community Fund, ACRE’s Village Hall Improvement Grant and Warcop Parish Council for their support.

1. The main work will involve an extension to the storage provision to create two more storerooms which had to be omitted when the hall was originally built to reduce costs. There will be one larger store and a smaller store room with racked shelving for hall users to store smaller items. This extension will allow the hall to store its existing equipment more effectively and also allow for the storage of new equipment for any new activities or groups.
2. The grants also allow for improved access to the building by replacing the rather heavy front doors with automatic ones, thus enabling those with mobility problems or some elderly users to access the hall much more easily and safely.
3. A new electronic projection screen and a new projector will be installed above the new storerooms for those hirers needing to use projection facilities.

The work, to be carried out by local contractor Matt Pietruszewski, is expected to start on the 8th March and take about 8 weeks. Please note that during this work, the side path nearest to the school will be blocked off to create a compound for the construction work. Access to and from school will be along the front of the hall and down the path alongside the hall driveway. We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause.

The trustees of Warcop Parish Hall met on the 2nd December 2020 and discussed the implications of Cumbria being in Tier 2 following lockdown, and also taking into account the latest government guidance for community halls. Trustees took the decision to remain closed for the moment but will review the situation in January taking into account the tier that Cumbria will be in at that time and any further guidance for community halls.

We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to our many regular users and hirers but we feel that re-opening at this stage would be likely to increase the risk of infection if we were to re-start classes and events.

We really hope that things will look better in 2021 and mass vaccination will be rolled out and we can start to offer all the many activities, classes and events that we’ve all missed so much.

In the meantime, the weekly Post Office continues at the Hall on Tuesdays from 2-3 pm. The Shappy Wheels Fish & Chips van will continue in the car park every Tuesday from 4:30 -7:00pm. The primary school can continue to use the hall for occasional PE lessons.

David Keetley

Chair, Warcop Parish Hall CIO Trustees

The Post Office service at Warcop Parish Hall has re-opened on a new day for the time being, on Tuesdays. Please note the revised opening time from 2 – 3 pm with effect from the 8th September.

A poster is attached below.

PLEASE NOTE THAT FACE MASKS/COVERINGS MUST BE WORN AT THE POST OFFICE IN LINE WITH RECENT GOVERNMENT ADVICE.

The meeting room will be Covid-secure with a Perspex screen, hand sanitiser, social distancing rules and one customer in the room at a time. We look forward to meeting as many customers as possible.

The Trustees of the Parish Hall have agreed to have a limited re-opening of the hall from the week beginning the 13th July. Only a few groups will be able to use the hall at first, such as the Tuesday Drama group, the Friday morning Art class (from 7th August) and the Post Office at a new time and day of Tuesday afternoon, 1-2 pm. The kitchen will not be available initially as Trustees have to ensure that the hall is Covid-safe and all necessary risk assessment have been carried out. We hope to gradually expand the number of users and activities in the coming weeks. No indoor exercise classes are permitted at the moment.

In the light of recently updated government guidance, Trustees are currently considering allowing some sport and exercise classes to re-start from September. These include Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Extend Exercise and Bat & Chat and strict Covid-secure measures will be in place.