Kitchen, Soccer kids, Canines and Covid-19

With lockdown restrictions beginning to ease you may wonder “When will the Village Hall be open and when will life in Whixley get back to normal?” The Village Hall Committee are presently studying the government’s latest guidance in preparation for opening up the children’s playground and in time opening up the Village Hall. However, as yet we do not have a definitive date.

However, we do know life for the Village Hall has not stood still! During the lockdown plans to redevelop and refurbish the Village Hall kitchen have been finalised, the kitchen contract has been awarded and work has begun.

Funding a new kitchen for the Village Hall has been a major undertaking for the Village Hall Committee. Fund raising events like: The Bridge afternoon, the luncheon club, the 5k and 10k runs, the Bonfire and Pantomime have all contributed and together with successful applications for grants from the National Lottery and from the Harrogate Local fund, the installation of a new kitchen has been made possible.

In addition to this exciting development two new outdoor initiatives are likely to prove extremely popular:

I am delighted that we have been able to attract Chrissy Beadle from Harrogate dog training, www.harrogatedogtraining.co.uk, to begin dog training classes for up to five puppies on the Village Hall playing field from Saturday 27th June. The classes run for six weeks and full details can be seen on the Village Hall website.

I am also delighted that Dan Spence will restart the Soccerkids’ programme, using the outside junior football pitch, for pre-school children in July. Dan is willing to extend the programme to older children and to run this throughout the summer. Social distancing will be adhered to and again, full details will be posted soon on the Village Hall website.

Your Village Hall Committee has continued to meet each month with Zoom meetings throughout the lockdown. We have distributed 200 face masks to local villagers and we remain committed to developing the Village Hall as an amenity that enriches life in Whixley. Hopefully, life will now slowly get back to normal and the Village Hall will once again be a resource Whixley can be justly proud of.