The Management Committee
Eydon Village Hall is run by a Management Committee, consisting of 12 members who are also charity trustees. 6 are Elected and 6 are Appointed Members representing village organisations. All are volunteers. The Committee meets at least 3 times a year and holds an AGM, which residents of Eydon can attend.
The Committee is supported by other volunteers in practical projects and fundraising events. If you would like to offer a few hours please contact the Hon. Secretary.
How the Hall is Funded
Charity Registration No: 1125650.
Eydon Village Hall is funded by hire fees; donated income and equipment, and some fundraising.
Please support Eydon Fete and the Eydon 200 Club, who donate a proportion of their proceeds to the Hall.
If you would like to discuss or make a donation, contact the Treasurer.
Eydon 200 Club
Eydon 200 Club is a charitable lottery raising funds for the Village Hall and the Church. There are 12 monthly draws and 3 prizes each month. Numbers are on sale (£12 each) at the start of each year ready for the first draw in March. To buy a number contact the Eydon 200 Club Organiser
Eydon Fete
The Fete is held annually and is a great summer day out for all the family. Typically there are games, stalls, a Grand Draw, competitions, as well as lunch, teas and bar and even music. Contact: Angus Richards ASRichards@savills.com
History of the Village Hall
A Village Institute was formed in 1920 after the demise of a reading room, and was given the use of the Wesleyan Chapel schoolroom while a permanent building was being sought.
By 1923 the Chapel wanted the schoolroom back; Lady Hesketh offered to sell land ‘in the centre of the village’ for £60 which the Institute committee considered ‘excessive’. Land near the church was ‘inappropriate’ and land near the pub was ‘suitable’; land on the Byfield Road corner ‘satisfactory’. A public meeting in 1924 unanimously agreed that a village hall was very badly wanted and fundraising commenced through subscriptions, dances, fetes and whist drives.
In 1925 the Building Sub Committee reported the purchase for £20 of the centrally located 1/4 acre of land, the site of the former laundry at the top of Doctor’s Lane, one of the buildings to suffer in the ‘Great Fire’ of Eydon in 1905. The site was judged sufficient for a hall 60×30 ft plus kitchen and cloakroom, and the committee obtained an estimate of £650 for building work, deciding also to buy a piano. Pigsties were relocated and a patch of land behind the hall was let out at a shilling per half year with the tenant to “give facilities for depositing contents of close pails thereon”.
By September 1926 the new Eydon Village Hall Committee had paid the builders; laid in fuel and cleaning materials; furnished the hall with lamps (electricity did not arrive till 1930/1), chairs, pianola, and billiard table; had held its opening social and were taking hire bookings.
Since then the building has been extended to include more storage and flushing toilets and periodically refurbished.
In 2008 the Trust was reorganised and the Hall is run by a Management Committee with the Parish Council as custodian Trustee of the Hall.
Bookings have included: dances; concerts; plays and pantos; games; sport; craft; exhibitions; lectures; social groups; sales; polling; weddings and parties.
The Hall remains , for meetings, lectures and classes or other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the conditions of life for the inhabitants [of the Parish of Eydon].(Deed of Trust 2008)
The Hall was subject to substantial renovations in 2022 thanks in part to a grant awarded by HS2, and in part to a number of volunteers who put in an immense effort to ensure it’s completion.