Woodland Village Hall may soon close, fear volunteers

A PLEA has been sounded to save an historic village hub from closure.

Dwindling volunteers at Woodland Village Hall have led to fears the 19th century building will shut its doors for good.
Hall committee members sent flyers around Woodland last week saying a decision to close the building will be taken if no new volunteers step forward at the next annual meeting. Committee secretary Avril Abbott said just a couple of hours a week from one or two villagers could make the difference.
She added: “We need to get people in with ideas.
“I don’t think we’re alone but if nobody comes forward we just cannot carry on the way we are – it’s just not viable.”
Concrete assistance is being sought by the hall’s volunteers – be it for some long term help or just a couple of hours a week.
Ms Abbott added: “We usually have about four meetings a year – there might be more if something crops up.
“It’s not even a couple of hours a week.”
Woodland’s hall was built in the 1890s as a reading room for miners.
It now hosts Teesdale Day Clubs, pilates and craft groups but little else at the moment.
An ageing village population and influx of new people have been touted as reasons behind its lack of use.
“People who move into the village now are commuters,” added Ms Abbott.
“A lot of the original villagers are very elderly – of the new people, very few want to commit themselves to village life in that way.
“We have organised so many coffee mornings over the years and nobody comes.”
Hall treasurer Dorothy Peckett revealed how other clubs and organisations in Woodland, including the pigeon club and gardening club, had fallen away. She added: “We had these clubs when people lived in the village and stayed in the village – people didn’t have cars to travel elsewhere.”
The linear shape of Woodland also means the hall faces the challenges of attracting residents on its fringes.
However, nearby Butterknowle has a similar layout and its village hall has undergone a renaissance through bookings and open mic nights.
Committee member Sara Craven said some innovation could show the way forward in Woodland.
She added: “The village has let go a lot of things which is a shame – we used to have a snooker club and a gardening club but they seem to have gone by the wayside.
“The layout of Woodland is not conducive to talking to each other so we need a hub.
“We’ve got to try and keep it – it’s the heart of the village.”
The village hall annual meeting will be held on Monday, April 24 at 7pm.