Our parish has grown by almost 60% with the new build of 401 homes at Donnington Heights and Shaw Valley. The building of this large new estate was approved on appeal, and as such has no community buildings included, meaning that the Village Hall remains the only community building for the people of the parish.

With just this one main room available for hire, we are running out of space for families and organisations to book and, sometimes, we have to decline requests from groups wanting to hire the hall on a regular basis. This means we are not able to extend the range of regular activities and community events for residents, something that feedback from the 2023 Survey for the Parish Plan Refresh showed that local residents wanted. 

To meet this need, and to encourage community support and inclusion, we are planning to extend the Hall with an extension added to the rear from the lobby to the railings, which is our land boundary. This will give us a second smaller hall about one third the size of the current hall (suitable for small parties and group activities), plus a small community room, all of which will be available to hire independently of each other. As part of this build, the kitchen will be upgraded and new improved toilets will be installed, including a second disabled toilet accessible from the new rooms. 

There is a strong demand for hiring the hall from the new residents, and the expansion of the facilities would enable more hirers to use the hall, for family celebrations and group activities such as fitness classes and outreach health services.  This would bring benefits for the health and wellbeing of the local community. 

You can view the plans at:

https://publicaccess.westberks.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=SXR0UFRDKM700

Our planning application was approved by West Berks Council at the end of October 2025. We are now seeking grants and donations to raise the money needed for the build. We need to raise a total of £680,000 to complete this project. 

We need your help!

Give today, Grow Tomorrow

If we achieve our fundraising targets, our planned build timeline is shown below: