I am so fortunate to live in
a vibrant rural community.
Over the past decade or so
it has been a privilege to be
part of a committed and
energetic team of volunteers
who have transformed
our community.
Together we led a project to build a new village hall as a community hub for our village. The project provided the spark that ignited our community and along the way tackled the real issues of rural isolation, physical and physiological well-being and the particular challenge facing the more elderly and the young
After first raising £20,000 ourselves, we were successful in obtaining a grant of £470,000 from the Big Lottery to build and equip our new village hall, and a £25,000 grant to create a serenity garden.
With our two acre village green, hall and garden we are so proud of what has been achieved. An enviable events and activities programme includes a community Bakehouse, repair cafe, Pop Up Bar, annual apple festival, a choir, annual Wassail event, exercise classes and workshops, with a focus on sharing skills and encouraging social enterprise.
Our vision is ‘a vibrant community hub at the heart of Fradswell providing local opportunities to meet, socialise, learn, share and shop.
Our values are: inclusive, enabling, tradition, sustainable and local.
In 2018 I published Building a Community, a book telling the story of the project.
Buy a copy of, or find out more about Building a Community