A COMMUNITY hall has been rebuilt thanks to funding from Hinkley Point C’s multi-million pound Community Impact Mitigation (CIM).

Stogursey's new Victory Hall has been made possible thanks to a £1.55m grant from the CIM Fund, administered by Somerset West and Taunton Council.

The new building replaces an old hall built in the 1950's.

The fund was set up in 2012 with an aim to increase opportunity and reduce the impact of the construction project for local people.

Chris Ford, chairman of the Stogursey and District Victory Hall Committee, said: “Stogursey's new village hall is the result of a great deal of hard work by all concerned.

"The Committee is grateful for the help and support of Somerset West and Taunton Council, and all the funding partners. We are also grateful to Stogursey Parish Council for their steadfast support throughout.

“We are thankful for the excellent design and project management of LED Architects of Highbridge. They worked closely with our chosen builders, Harris Bros and Collard of Bridgwater, to deliver a high quality building in spite of the difficulties that the Covid epidemic caused with the supply of materials.

“We look forward to welcoming the local and wider community to use our superb new village hall.”

In total £20 million of community funding has been made available for community projects in Somerset to alleviate any social, environmental or economic impacts of building Hinkley Point C whilst ensuring the larger benefits of the once in a generation project could be accessed by local people.

The new hall has been designed for community use and will serve the local and wider area with modern, fit for purpose facilities including a large multi-use hall, state-of-the-art changing facilities for home and away football teams, and a new high specification kitchen which can function as a small café or for large events such as weddings.

It also has rooms available for private meetings and course bookings, an extended car parking area and planting.

Cllr Chris Booth, Executive Member for Community at SWT, said: “I am delighted that residents of Stogursey and the wider area will now be able to make use of their wonderful new hall.

“We have already seen some really great community projects enabled through the CIM Fund and this is one of the most ambitious.

“These projects will immediately benefit those communities that have been impacted by the construction work at Hinkley Point C and will leave a lasting legacy for many years to come."

The Stogursey Victory Hall project also attracted grants from Sport England, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Fairfield Trust, Viridor Credits and Stogursey Parish Council.

The hall will be managed by the Stogursey and District Victory Hall Committee who hope to hold an official opening ceremony in early 2021 if Covid-19 restrictions have been relaxed.

Andrew Cockcroft, Community Relations Senior-Manager, Hinkley Point C added: “It is an absolute pleasure to see this flagship project reach its completion despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic.

“Directly benefitting our closest neighbours, this new hall is a shining example of collaboration and how Hinkley Point C’s community funding packages can be used to provide long-term benefit to people from across the local area.”