Stoodleigh Parish Hall report of the Chair 2022

Stoodleigh Parish Hall Chairperson’s Report 2021-22

After a couple of very difficult ‘Covid years’, we have seen life at the parish hall start to grow new shoots and recover after the period of quiet.  People have relished joining together again and sharing in the different activities provided by the parish hall, the church and the gardening club.  Yoga, Pilates and Zumba classes have resumed much to the relief of many.

At the start of December 2021, we enjoyed a good old singsong, mulled wine and mince pies for the ‘lighting up of the Christmas tree’ outside the village hall. This was a new venture which was well attended and greatly enjoyed.  I would like to say a big “thank you” to all of those people who made this such a wonderful occasion and gave their time, energy, and money to make this a night to remember! A particular thank you to John and Mandy Widdowson for supplying the tree and helping to put it in situ, to the merry musicians, and to the ladies dishing up yummy things from the kitchen. Thank you also to Dick Sibley,West Ridge Veterinary Practice, and the Stoodleigh Inn for their much appreciated support for the event.  Villagers gave generous amounts of food and money at this event which we were able to donate to the Tiverton food bank and CHAT in time for Christmas.

Our village walk at the start of March, followed by the most delicious lunch was another great day.  People and dogs joined together for a 5 mile walk around the outskirts of Stoodleigh and although it was rather wet underfoot, the rain stayed off until the very end of the walk.  It was great to meet up with the ‘non walkers’ for lunch. Thank you to Phil and Geraldine Talbot and to Vanessa and Phil Turner and all the other people concerned, for the effort and energy they put in to make it a great day.

The Easter Market and Coffee morning was the first for a few years and we saw a regular stream of visitors.  Funds were raised for the hall and a great time was had.  Thanks to Vanessa Turner and Jean Winter for all the cakes and goodies dished up with coffee and tea and to all the other folk involved in making this occasion happen.

Stoodleigh Family Fun Dog Show was welcomed back after a few years and organized by both the Church and the Hall committees. We were spoiled with beautiful weather and enjoyed seeing many visitors join us from inside and outside the village. A particular thank you to Jeannie Knowles for judging the dogs and to Geraldine Talbot for keeping everything organized and running smoothly. Thank you.

More recently, the Autumn fair and Coffee Morning saw a wonderful array of stall holders enticing people with their lovely produce, along with cakes and coffee, soup and hotdogs being served from the hall café!  Children brought their pumpkins and had face painting and activities in which to take part. The garden club offered a lovely variety of plants etc to keep us all inspired and busy. Thank you once again to the numerous people who worked hard to bring this event about, who donated raffle prizes, or cooked up lovely food for us to serve and then helped clear up at the end.

I would like to say a particular thank you to Christine Palfrey for her hard work during the last year in running the 100 club on behalf of the village and for helping to raise much needed funds for both the hall and for the church.

Maintenance

The exterior redecoration of the outside of the parish hall in the last year, along with new gravel to the parking area has given the hall an exterior face lift.  Thanks go to Roger and Chris Hill for their hard work, very reasonable prices and supportive attitude towards the hall and committee members. Thank you also to Geraldine Talbot for overseeing this work.

I would like to thank every one for the time and effort given up to keep the hall well maintained.

Kitchen

During the past year, after great consideration being given to how the hall facilities might be best improved with the amount of money available, it was decided that refurbishment of the kitchen would make it more functional and enable a wider variety of events to be offered at the hall.  To this end, we met with kitchen designers and various fitters to see what might be achieved.  The parish hall committee discussed the various options and a plan was finalized and is available at this meeting.  Plans are in place (subject to the approval of the committee) for the kitchen to be refitted in January 2023. 

I would like to finish this report by thanking the parish hall committee for their time and efforts over the past year.  In particular, I would like to thank Geraldine Talbot, our secretary (and main stay) for her continual hard work and commitment to the Parish Hall and for keeping all things running smoothly.  Thank you also to Jan Russell (our treasurer) for keeping our figures and finances in order and for sticking in there when battling with energy suppliers and insurers!

We look forward to the future year in the parish hall, to new ideas and input along with our regular events which villagers enjoy.