Volunteers make Eastbourne parish hall safe to reopen

Locals have volunteered their skills and time to return St John's Parish Hall into a safe state for its users to return, after the hall, in the centre of Meads village, Eastbourne, was recently closed due to a number of health and safety concerns.
By Mitch PeacockContributor
Published 20th Dec 2023, 09:00 BST
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Over the course of a fortnight, volunteers have installed protection against falling timber, tiles, and stonework, both inside and outside the hall. Under the supervision of a local, qualified electrician, also volunteering, they have installed smoke, fire, heat, and carbon monoxide detectors, along with fire alarm buttons, fire exit signs, and emergency lighting. With less than a days' work left to complete the project, the volunteers will be switching to clean-up activities, ready to hand the hall back to the PCC of St. John's, who have been very cooperative throughout and put some volunteer hours in too.

Readers of the Eastbourne Herald will remember the recent online petition launched to gauge community support for the hall. With over 800 households and individuals signing it already, there will be plenty of smiles this Christmas, knowing that their beloved venue should be reopening for the new year. To add you name to the petition, go to https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-meads-parish-hall

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Taking part in, and helping to manage, the work, was Mitch Peacock, a trustee of a recently formed charity, currently applying to be registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), which aims to takeover the running of the hall in order to provide Meads with a welcoming, inclusive, and up-to-date community centre, with similar purposes to those envisioned after the site, originally gifted to the community by the Duke of Devonshire in the 19th century.

Risk of falling timber from the original cupolaRisk of falling timber from the original cupola
Risk of falling timber from the original cupola

The site was gifted by the Duke for the building of a school, was later used as a Parish Room, after the school moved to larger premises in Rowsley Road. The current hall, built in the early 20th Century, was for continuing the same function of a parish room, within a larger footprint, after, ironically, the original building was becoming dilapidated.

The Meads Community Association have been fundamental to the efforts over the past year to investigate a solution to the PCC wish to dispose of the hall. After extensive due diligence, by a Steering Group of volunteers, a takeover by the new charity appears to give the best outcome for the community as a whole, although agreement on the shape of that takeover is still a matter of debate.

The story of the current works has been told through the Facebook page Save Meads Parish Hall which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553843926055

Related topics:St John'sVolunteersPCC