Foxley Village Hall Committee felt that it would like to bring the residents of Foxley up to date with what is happening to their village hall.
From your suggestions made in the Village Assessment Survey it seemed fairly conclusive that you would like to make more use of the hall for various activities, but the facility was far too cold and damp during the winter months, particularly for the very old and the very young; and so the Committee sought expert advice on how best this fault could be remedied.  The answer was: a ‘dropped’ insulated ceiling, insulated cladding to the interior walls, and a completely new insulated floor.  There would also have to be new electrics in the form of more power plugs and modular lighting.

The cost of all the structural improvement was going to be in the region of £14,000, and so funding was going to be needed.
The Committee acquired three funders.  The main one was WREN (Waste Recycling Enviromental Ltd.,) who generously granted the bulk of the requirement, namely £9,000.;  Breckland Council and Norfolk Community Fund unhesitatingly offering to make up the rest of the monies.  That still left the cost of the electrics, some £1700.  Through ‘Open Days’ and Social Evenings the Village Hall Committee raised enough funds to cover this, and so hopefully all is in place for the work to begin on the hall (fingers crossed!) during the first week in February 2004, and should take about four weeks.

When all the above work is completed, the Committee feel that it would like to organize an Open Evening for all the residents to come along and see for themselves exactly how things have turned out.  Perhaps those with small group interests or ambitions will want to consider whether the hall would now suit their purposes for the future.   The Open Evening would also give the Committee an opportunity to exhibit their plans for future improvements and ideas.  
We, the Committee, will keep everyone informed as things move on, through ‘The Reeve’s Tale’.  
 
 

During 2003 the Social Club has had another event-filled year in which we have been educated, amused and entertained by a variety of speakers.   Our especial thanks goes to the villagers who have given their time to come and reminisce about their careers, hobbies and holidays. 

The Club has also enjoyed visiting places of interest including the “Walsingham Snowdrop Walk”, Litcham Museum, Blickling Hall, Baytree Nurseries and Thursford 
Theatre. 

Two fund-raising events were held in aid of the maintenance of the Village Hall.  The Race Evening in September and “Carlos Entertains” in November which were both a great success raising a total of £718.   We would like to thank everyone for their support, their generous donations and gifts for the raffles. 

We also opened our doors to the villagers of Foxley and Bawdeswell for the Christmas Tea Party  when we were entertained by Colin Thackery and David, “With a Smile and a Song” which was a very enjoyable way of rounding off the year.   

The Social Club would like to wish all the residents of Foxley and Bawdeswell a Happy New Year.   

BECK WI
Carol read the minutes from the November meeting and dates were given out for the forthcoming events.
Holidays and illness kept half of the Beck's membership away from the January meeting. It was soon very obvious however, that those who did come were in for a most interesting and entertaining evening.
Mr David Corby, Loose's Cookshop Development Manager, was an eloquent speaker with terrific enthusiasm for cooking and cookware.
We were shown a lovely collection of saucepans - aluminium, stainless steel, cast iron and even the extremely durable but highly expensive copper, with useful hints from David on how to keep them looking their best.
Being shown other items on the table, we could see that a blowtorch filled with lighter fuel seems almost a 'must' in a modern kitchen and Microplane graters are the last word in efficiency.
David and the members then tried to guess the mystery kitchen utensils brought in by members. 1st Carol, Joint 2nd Margaret and Janet. The raffle was won by Audrey.

The next meeting is on Monday 9th February at 7.30pm in Sparham's Old School Room and we are asked to bring the hyacinth bulbs given to us earlier - no doubt now in various stages of growth. As always, new members are most welcome.
Mary Humphrey