Chris Davies 
We have now installed two bike stands in the newly tarmacked area outside the Village Hall, for the use of our customers and the wider community.
Many thanks Park that Bike, who provided the stands free of charge, and to Committee Member Sheila Evans, who arranged their provision.
Shortly before Christmas, work was completed on the refurbishment of the entrance way at the side of the Village Hall, at a cost of over £4,000. This work involved the removal of the small patch of grass by the garages, where a bike rack will shortly be installed. The whole area was re-tarmacked, and service manhole covers were replaced. The work was completed whilst maintaining the public right of way through the area.
We hope that our users and the rest of our community will agree that the refurbishment work has improved the accessibility to the Hall, and also provided an aesthetic enhancement at the centre of our village.
Please note that vehicles may only use the entrance way when loading or unloading at the Village Hall or its garages (or for access to the adjacent private property). No parking is allowed.
In accordance with new restrictions introduced by the Government, the Village Hall is currently closed, other than for any exempt activities. These are specified as follows:
If you wish to hire the Hall for one of these purposes during the closure period, please contact our Hall Manager, Julie Warrender. You can also contact Julie to make bookings for the future.
Once restrictions are lifted, we will seek to re-open as soon as safely possible. Details of our plans will be published on this website in due course.
In the meantime, please take care and we look forward to welcoming people back to the Hall soon.
The Village Hall will re-open to regular and one-off users from 1st September 2020. We are putting in place arrangements to enable the Hall to be used safely during this stage of the Covid-19 outbreak, as described in our re-opening risk assessment. As a result of our risk assessment, we have introduced some Special Conditions of Hire with which all users must comply. As part of these conditions, we will be asking users to provide us with a copy of their own risk assessment (this need not be especially detailed, and we can provide a template for you to follow.)
Please contact the Hall Manager to discuss arrangements for your return to the Hall or your one-off hire.
If your group is unable to return to the Hall for the time being, please be assured that your regular hire sessions will be protected and made available to you when you do wish to return.
We are very happy to be welcoming Sandhills Nursery to the Village Hall for a few weeks, whilst building works at their own premises in Alvechurch are completed. The Nursery is re-opening in line with the continued easing of the Government’s lockdown measures. We are pleased to be able to provide a space for them to do so on a temporary basis, until they are able to move back in to their own place down the road.
Please note that, in line with Government guidance, the Hall remains closed to all other users and members of the public.
Please do not enter the Hall unless you are using the Nursery.
As a result of the current Covid-19 pandemic and Government restrictions on gatherings, the Village Hall is currently closed. Our Hall Manager and Cleaner are both on furlough. The Officers of the Management Committee are carrying out the required periodic checks of the building, and monitoring email correspondence. Any requests for future hires can be sent to the Hall Manager’s email address – hallmanager.avh@gmail.com – they will be responded to by a member of the Committee.
We will keep the situation under review, and ask all user groups to keep us informed of any plans for the resumption of their activities within the Hall. Current guidance indicates that this is unlikely to begin for most of our groups before 4th July. When these activities begin to restart, we will specify the precautions to be taken by our staff, and work with our users to facilitate their return.
In the meantime, please take care and stay safe.
Alvechurch Village Hall Management Committee agreed its Coronavirus Policy at its Committee Meeting on 16th March 2020.
The Village Hall remains open for use for the time being. We will comply will all Governmental requirements as regards possible closure in the future.
Any users wishing to cancel their booking should contact the Hall Manager via email or phone. Refunds will be made in accordance with our bookings terms and conditions.
Everyone please take care, stay safe and look after each other during this outbreak.
Members of the Management Committee of Alvechurch Village Hall gathered outside the Hall on Sunday 8th March to officially unveil the newly completed access ramp at the front of the building. They were joined by architect Marc Worrall and metalworkers Bill and Paul Duffett, who made the fencing and railings (Tom Forrester, whose team built the ramp itself, was unfortunately unable to attend.)
The ramp provides access for people using wheelchairs or with restricted mobility at the front of the building for the first time. It has been designed to blend in with the rest of the Hall as much as possible, and some of the materials from the previous steps were re-used. The pattern running across the top of the fencing has been designed to echo the Arts and Crafts-style brickwork pattern that runs beneath the windows of the Hall. Handrails in a contrasting colour have been provided to help people with visual disabilities.
Jan Brice and Annette English, who led to project for the Village Hall Committee, commented “We are really pleased to be able to officially open our new accessible entrance. This was the most requested improvement when we asked our users and the wider community what they wanted, so it’s great to be able to deliver it. We were also pleased that we managed to obtain a National Lottery grant to cover the costs of its construction. Although that construction was slightly delayed due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, we hope that now that it is finished it will provide the help that people need to access and enjoy our lovely Village Hall.”
The Committee also noted that the existing ramp at the side of the building has not been removed and is still available for people to use as they wish.
Work to construct a new accessible entrance at the front of the Village Hall is now nearly complete! The ramp has been constructed and the fencing is in place. We are just awaiting completion and installation of the handrails. The Committee would like to thank Hall users and the wider community for bearing with us during the construction period, which has been unavoidably delayed due to circumstances beyond our control. Once work has been completed, we are planning to officially unveil the new entrance at a small event on Saturday 21st March. Watch this space for more details!
UPDATE
The accessible entrance has now been completed and is available for use. We have therefore brought the unveiling forward, and this will now happen at 11:00 on Sunday 8th March.
Construction of the new ramp to provide an accessible entrance at the front of the Hall is expected to start on 30th September. Work is expected to last 6-7 weeks, to allow for construction of the ramp and then installation of safety fencing and handrails. The image above gives an idea of how the ramp will look, although the railings will be different to those shown.
The site will be fenced and a compound put in place at the front of the Hall. Work will only be carried out during daylight hours. We have asked our builders to do as much as they can to minimise any disruption to our neighbours and the wider community.
We would ask everyone to please bear with us during the construction process. Our builders know they need to be aware of the impact of the work on our neighbours, hall users and other members of the community, and we hope that any short term problems can be resolved with them on site.
We are looking forward to revealing our new entrance ramp soon – and ticking off the most requested item from our five year plan survey!
