A VILLAGE hall suffering from lack of use is hoping to gain more visitors after undergoing major renovation work.

Tockholes Village Hall has undergone a transformation which has seen the roof replaced, new central heating installed, the kitchen and bathroom redone and the whole place redecorated.

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All the work was carried out thanks to major grants from Sita, which gave £53,000, and Marks & Spencer’s Energy, which offered £12,000 after the hall won a competition to receive renovation funding.

John Jacklin, a member of the village hall’s committee, said that now the building has received a makeover, he hopes that more visitors will be drawn to it.

He said: “For years people were not using the hall much because it was cold and a bit behind the times.

“Work had not been done for many years but we put our heads together and started thinking about how we could start to make improvements.

“Thanks to funding from a couple of Darwen charities, WM & BW Lloyd and JF Leech, we were able to apply to Sita for a grant and they were extremely generous and we are thankful to everyone who helped us to win the Marks & Spencer competition as well. I hope now that it is all finished people will use the hall more.”

Awards For All offered a grant of £10,000 for the renovation.

The hall in Tockholes Road is run by volunteers and owned by Tockholes United Reformed Church.

Work began in November last year and the redecoration is ongoing.

It is expected that the building will be ready in a fortnight to open again.

Cllr Jean Rigby, representative for North Turton with Tockholes, said: “I think it will make such a difference to community groups who use it.

“It needed work and it will be amazing for the village.”

The reopening was marked with a pancake event. A show, Dinosaur Detectives, is planned for the hall on October 29.