New kitchen fitted in Steventon's village hall after grant

Thanks to the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's grant the old kitchen in the village hall has been transformed into a new and bright space. 

The hall is used to host a range of community events including coffee mornings once a month, Christmas dinner, fetes and a village panto.

The Steventon Village Hall Committee was given £22,000 taken from the council's community infrastructure fund after project manager Laurence Quinn applied for the grant.

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Committee chairman Tamsin Raymond said: "The original kitchen was built back in the 60s and it hasn't been replaced since. The village hall is really the only hall we have in the village of Steventon, so it is essentially for the community. All our events we use the kitchen to run things from."

Rachel Cheesman, secretary of the committee, added: "It is a real community hub, we don't have a shop here it is a very small hamlet and this is where the community come together.

"We are hoping that it will enhance its potential. It is the catering aspect, to have all the surfaces and the worktops where you can actually lay things out because there was hardly any space before."

Talking about the monthly coffee mornings, Tamsin added: "We need a decent space and a new kitchen to be able to provide them with the coffee and cake."

Since the new kitchen has been installed the committee has already had new bookings, which they say they wouldn't have had before.

Ward councillor for the area, Cllr Diane Taylor, was at the launch of the new kitchen, held on Monday, April 22.

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Left, Rachel Cheesman, secretary of the committee, and right, Tamsyn Rayman, chairman (Image: Newsquest)

She said: "This one fitted the criteria really well and they must have put in a really good application because it is not easy applying for grants, adding: "I am great believer in building the community." 

Cllr Taylor continued: "It is what draws the community together and it gives them a space to meet friends and to take part in activities. This is an example of a well established community facility, you can see the whole village is involved.

"This is very much the heart of the village community and it is a very close knit village. It is that sort of village where they know each other and they have a lots of fun together. To have facilities where you have good cooking facilities it is going to improve the use of it."