Hampton Wick Association header title
  • hwa-bp-sunset
  • lib-long-2024-radiant
  • xmas-long-radiant
  • hwa-header20231112
  • skateboard-2
  • train-letterbox-2
  • boats-summer-2

Village Diary

List your local event
email us with details

HWA Map poster

HWA bids to improve Village Hall and the Library

Sunday 12th May 2019

HWA bids to improve Village Hall and the Library

The HWA and the Friends of Hampton Wick Library have submitted a bid for over £85k from the Community Fund to provide much-needed improvements to our combined Library / Village Hall (Bullen Hall) facility. The Community Fund is financed through a levy on local property developments.

UPDATE: 11 SEPTEMBER 2019- The Council have approved our bid in full.

Background:
Hampton Wick Library and Bullen Hall were built in the mid-1970s. Little if any modernisation has taken place since then with the result that:

- The Library has to close for an hour each lunchtime as there is nowhere for the staff to eat lunch apart from in the Library itself. This prevents lunchtime opening even if a rota of volunteers were to provide staffing cover.

- The hall is poorly equipped (heavy, hard-to-handle tables and chairs; no audio visual equipment, only two single power sockets; little storage space etc)

- The kitchen is small, poorly equipped and tatty

- A caretaker must visit to unlock the hall for each hire session, making it extremely expensive to use.

An expensive, poor quality village hall and a Library that has to turf people out and close its doors in the middle of every day – no wonder that this amenity is under-used! But the good news is that it’s fixable for about £70k.

Our proposal includes redesigning the kitchen, lobby and toilets area; enlarging and modernising the kitchen which will give Library staff somewhere to eat lunch as well as vastly improving the facilities for the Hall; installing a remote door access system; installing a projector and screen in the Hall; and increasing storage space.

If our bid is successful, then our Village Halll will become a flexible, attractive, lower cost venue for Hampton Wick, the Library won’t have to close at lunchtimes and we’ll be getting more use and value out of this public asset.

Several key council officials and all our councillors have already expressed their support in principle. But we need to demonstrate support for the project from local people too. Please email us with your views to info@friendshwlibrary.org.uk