Report by

STUART DYE

BYLEY HALL is set to become one of the best equipped small village halls in the County - thanks to a National Lottery Charities Board grant.

The Byley Community Association has just been awarded £48,000 enabling it to equip the hall with new furniture which includes stage lighting, sound facilities and a stage extension.

Members of the Association will also be able to complete the car parks around the hall.

Work continues on the hall itself, which is still being completed after receiving a grant of £100,000 from the Millennium Commission's '21st Century Halls for England' project.

This new building was designed by Byley resident, Manchester architect, John Ratcliffe, and has attracted many favourable comments on its appearance and the way in which it compliments the nearby 1848 listed parish church.

But despite all this, there were still concerns for the hall.

Byley Community Association chairman John Grayling explained: "We were worried that we could not afford to fit out the interior of the hall with the furniture and all the other essentials of a quality to match the building.

"This generous grant from the National Lottery Charities Board recognises just how much our small community has achieved and will ensure that all our local groups will be able to make the fullest use of the hall," he added.

Grants towards the hall have also been made by Vale Royal Borough Council, the Countryside Agency and several charities and local businesses, but the local community itself has raised over £80,000.

An official opening of the hall is now planned for the spring when all work should be completed.

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