Celebrations as 'stunning' new kitchen officially unveiled at Danby Village Hall
A new, state-of-the-art kitchen has officially been declared open by Coun Clive Pearson at Danby Village Hall.
The kitchen was identified as one of the key areas for development at the village hall following a community meeting in March 2023.
The group present at the meeting listed what changes they thought needed to be made to the village hall, and ranked them in order of importance.
Top of the list were improvements to the kitchen, including better access – particularly for people with a disability as the existing kitchen was approached by a number of steps.
Grants from The National Lottery Community Fund, the Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund and the Jet Coast Development Fund were applied for and awarded, and local residents also donated generously and held a number of fundraising actiivities.
The grants were applied for, and the project managed, by Liz Lonsdale.
Two building companies carried out the work which included creating a ramp from Wellington Close and installing double doors directly into the kitchen.
Village Hall chair Graeme Pallister said: “Dave Morris from Building Control gave us some excellent advice and Mike Gilbert very kindly produced detailed plans which were used to gain planning permission.
“When the work began we had the assistance of the Men’s Shed, including Ian Johnson, Albert Elliot and Dave Moore, and Pete Mesley amended the plumbing to enable us to have a single tap in the kitchen until the new kitchen was installed.
“The kitchen was enlarged by incorporating the room next door to the original kitchen, by removing a dividing wall, and 3ways Kitchens designed and built the kitchen to our specifications with lots of storage space.
“We are grateful to everyone who played a part in developing this new facility and hope that people in Danby and the Upper Esk Valley use for their functions. “
Declaring the kitchen officially open, Esk Valley & Coast division Councillor Clive Pearson said: "It takes an awful lot of work to get money for anything these days, so this is a real bonus.”
“The kitchen is absolutely stunning and was really worth doing.”
Other alterations to the hall are also planned, and stairs have already been fitted to allow access to the roof space, and solar panels and new windows installed.
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