A HALL which was saved with a £150,000 lottery grant last summer is back in full working order as repair works on the roof near completion.

Sampford Courtenay Village Hall has proved itself a lifeline in recent years and villagers and people from the surrounding area showed how much they thought of their hall when they raised £50,000 towards its roof appeal.

The hall is a focus for the WI, Exbourne Choir, table tennis, yoga and Tai chi and hosts all sorts of special events.

It has been used for more than 70 years as a hall after serving as the village school. The roof repair has included new insultation to improve the environment of the hall, new drainage and chimney stacks, the large Victorian windows have also been replaced and the men’s and ladies toilets have been refurbished.

Storm damage a few years ago revealed major problems with the roof and the need for urgent building works. It was then that the hall committee set about starting to raise the money but needed a large outside contribution as the village only has 600 residents.

Vice chair of the hall committee Rory Robinson said apart from a few snagging issues the hall work was complete.

‘We can now use the hall fully again, all the scaffolding has gone and we have just had our first film night of the year where we had a full house. We hope to put on nine films a year. We also have tap dancing and pilates starting up as well as table tennis, yoga and Exbourne Choir which is really popular.

‘We are hoping to run regular courses for people on computer skills by Learn Devon and there are lots of other plans in the pipeline including the possibility of bringing back the flower show. The hall can also be hired for weddings and other events.

‘We are delighted with the way people have supported the hall and continue to. We have more helpers coming forward and people really seem to appreciate this place especially since the covid pandemic as we hosted special events like a curry night to bring the community together. I think it’s getting more use than it did in the past and that is fantastic.’