East Boldre Village Hall has been awarded a £2,000 grant from the New Forest National Park Authority’s (NPA) Sustainable Communities Fund to help purchase new audio-visual equipment that will enable more arts and heritage community events, as part of their wider project to redevelop the historic hall.
Built in 1918 as a military concert hall, the building is the last surviving of 146 buildings erected during the First World War for a military aviation training school. Inside its elaborate stage and historical photographs made it a well-loved local landmark. Outside, decades-old flat-roofed extensions left it looking tired and out of keeping with its National Park surroundings, making the redevelopment an essential project.
Since 2010, the centenary of East Boldre’s pioneering Flying School, the hall has grown into a genuine centre of heritage for the village and beyond, with exhibitions and historical talks regularly attracting visitors from across the New Forest and beyond.
East Boldre is among the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country for access to housing and services, so the central position of the hall, within a 15-minute walking distance for nearly two thirds of the village’s population, is an essential facility. Trial film nights at the hall sold out within days, and the hall’s monthly historical talks within hours, regularly drawing in audiences of 70 people. The hall is used for fitness and dance, by groups including Beaulieu Young Farmers, craft and horticultural societies, and first-aid and occupational therapy trainers.
The grant helped the trustees to buy a projector, screen and audio system, rather than continuing to hire equipment for every event. It was just part of a much larger redevelopment, which secured planning permission to pitch the north and south flat roofs, add timber cladding, and reconfigure the internal layout to restore the hall’s original shape increasing usable space by nearly 50% and improving access to the building’s second hall.
The Sustainable Communities Fund, is operated by the NPA, and currently offers grants of up to £2,000, as well as occasional micro-grants of up to £150, to schools, youth groups, community groups and charities based within the New Forest National Park. Since 2006, the fund has awarded over £2.5 million to more than 340 projects supporting wildlife and habitats, reducing carbon emissions, and connecting people with the National Park.
The grant follows a similar Sustainable Communities Fund award to Sway Village Hall to improve its stage and theatre space, and complements the NPA’s involvement in Culture in Common, a programme that supports rural touring and greater access to arts and culture across the New Forest.
Mary Davies, a member of the New Forest National Park Authority and chair of the Sustainable Communities Fund, said: ‘East Boldre Village Hall is a real community asset, and this project shows how a modest grant can make a big difference. Better AV equipment means more film nights, more talks, and more reasons for people to come together under one roof while also laying the groundwork for the hall’s wider redevelopment, which will make it fit for the future and far more in keeping with its beautiful National Park setting.’
Gina Antczak, the Treasurer at East Boldre Village Hall, said: ‘This hall means so much to our village it’s somewhere people of all ages can come together, whether for a film, a talk or a class. Being able to buy our own projector, screen and sound system instead of hiring equipment every time will make a huge practical difference. The NPA grant was one of the first grants to be awarded for the project, a real vote of confidence as we worked towards the bigger redevelopment.’
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East Boldre Village Hall stage and screen during refurbishment