Hunsonby community centre has reopened following a £300,000 renovation and extension — bringing the out-of-date community facility back to life.
The opening of the new and improved centre sees the culmination of a project going back to 2016.
The new and improved centre has been damp proofed and now boasts a modern extension, new kitchen and bathrooms, a new entrance and photovoltaic cells on the roof.
Open days were recently held at the centre where members of the community were able to see the completed work and gave positive feedback to project organisers.
Committee member Rachel Forster said people were pleased with the work and added that it was now a much more versatile space with the ability to cater for larger groups.
“After COVID people are really feeling the community spirit more than ever and that will hopefully lead to lots more events in the centre.
“The community feedback was that people really wanted a bigger kitchen and serving space so we have done that and made sure it’s really well equipped,” she added.
The centre was said to have previously become unusable due to out of date electrics and bad damp in the building.
Initial discussions about the work began in 2016 with community views sought and a final design agreed in 2018.
“Penrith’s Bowman’s Building Contractors carried out the work, starting in 2019 before being temporarily halted in March, 2020, due to the national COVID lockdown.
With the interior now complete the centre is said to have undergone a significant transformation with further work still be done to improve the outside community space.
The project has been made possible thanks to generous funding from members of the community in Hunsonby, Winskill, Little Salkeld and further afield.
Grants were also received from national bodies including £74,500 from the National Lottery Community Fund, £50,000 from Sport England, £47,745 from ACRE, £30,000 from Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust and £10,000 from Eden Community Fund.
During the course of the work the Hunsonby Community Centre committee was awarded the Hallmark One standard in a national quality scheme assessing how village halls are run.
