04/04/2025
The hall was run down, draughty and cold, though vital to the community. In the winter, winds would blow through the walls and lift the curtains. Ice on the inside of the windows was not unknown.
“It was cold, it was run down, and it was more than tired,” said retired accountant Kim Penberthy, who helped transform the hall. “I wouldn’t have wanted to lie on the floor to do yoga!”
Now, thanks to a series of grants, some amazing teamwork and some dogged determination, the hall is transformed, and people are flocking to it.
Reducing the hall’s carbon footprint was a significant part of the project. Insulation, secondary glazing, LED lighting, a new floor with underfloor heating, an air source heat pump and PV panels on the roof, have all transformed the hall from chilly, to a warm, ambient temperature.
Add to this another room with its own kitchen, accessible entrance, a renewed kitchen with fresh appliances, and suddenly, the village of Troon has a very useful hall indeed.
“We wanted to bring the hall into the community,” said Troon Church Trust’s Chairperson, the Rev Canon Hilary Samson. “We needed it to be for the village, not just the church. The fact that it is much closer to being carbon neutral makes a huge difference to the community.”
What difference? “People come now,” she said. “They can come here and relax.”
It’s a case of ‘build it and they will come’. The craft group has gone from six stalwart members to having 30 on its books in just three months, because of the warm environment.
Birthday parties are now held in the hall and overall usage is up. More than 100 people attended the hall’s official opening on November 16, 2024. “It was a wonderful atmosphere,” said Hilary.
To understand how important this is for the community, you need to know a little bit about Troon. It’s a small Cornish village, 560ft above sea level, with a population just shy of 5,500 people.
Once at the heart of the Cornish tin mining industry, it now has just one shop, and, according to Hilary, you need a car to really get around.
However, local statistics reveal that just over a quarter of Troon’s population (27 per cent) have no access to a car and the village itself is among the 30 per cent most deprived areas in the UK. The nearest cinema is 15 miles away. To see a doctor, you need to go to the next village.
How the transformation was funded
So, how did a small group of people manage to transform the hall in just two years? The answer lies in a series of grants.
The person who secured those grants was Nanette Hinge, project manager of Transforming Mission Camborne. In total, she raised some £639,786 in grants from the local council, National Lottery, Jubilee Hall Fund and a short-term loan from Truro Diocese which enabled bills to be paid for the capital build whilst waiting for grants to be processed.
By December 2023 they had all the funding needed for the project and builders moved on site the following February 2024. The hall had its official opening in November 2024.
“I really believe in the community of Troon,’ she said. ‘They care about each other. I hope they will enjoy their improved hall for decades to come.”
“It’s a lovely warm place. It’s so improved. It helps me to mix with people, because I live alone... It stops me feeling lonely and I’m making more friends.”
Dot Moore, local Troon residentOne person who’s already enjoying the hall is 73-year-old Dot Moore. Though she attended occasional events before the transformation, Dot was put off by the cold and having to wear her coat indoors.
Now, she said, “It’s a lovely warm place. It’s so improved. I go much more now.”
Dot attends the hall twice a week, particularly enjoying the afternoon craft session, as she is a keen sewer.
“It helps me to mix with people, because I live alone,” she said, “and my immediate neighbours keep themselves to themselves. It stops me feeling lonely and I’m making more friends.”
The fact that the hall is now warm also makes a difference to Dot. “Since the heating allowance has been stopped, I have to think about how long my heating goes on for,” said Dot. “So, spending a couple of hours in the hall really helps as you know that you are not heating your home.”
Heart of the community
Before, according to Rev Hilary, ‘it was too cold to craft’. Now, the hall is at a lovely ambient temperature. So, more events can happen there, everything from a weekly health and wellbeing session to Alpha and Christian groups, to martial arts groups, a toddlers’ morning, and now regular music shows.
There are plans for films to be shown regularly and for a community nurse to be available, as there is no doctor’s surgery in the village. A social media drive will replace posters on lampposts as a way of keeping locals informed about what’s going on.
“I want people to feel that they have access to the hall for all the things that they want to do,” said Rev Hilary. “I hope it will be an extension of people’s homes.”
Several months on from launch, numbers are up and the vision for the hall’s use is beginning to be realised. But, because the team viewed renewables as vital to the scheme, savings are being made there too. It is likely that they have already reduced the hall’s carbon footprint by two-thirds, as well as making significant savings on bills.
No longer are they turning radiators on at 8am for an afternoon event, and still feeling chilly.
“It’s beautiful,” said Rev Hilary, “I feel really good every time I go through the door.”
Troon Village Hall is just one of the many thousands of church buildings serving as community hubs which host or deliver over 30,000 social action projects annually and support some of society's most vulnerable people.
Where did the money come from?
£2,500 from the Cornwall Community Capacity Fund
£40,500 from Acre, the Queen’s Jubilee Hall Fund
£447,631 UK Shared Prosperity Fund
£149,000 the National Lottery Community Fund
Plus a £100,000 interest-free loan from the Diocese of Truro to keep the project moving
Troon’s Top Tips for improving your village hall
- Make renewables part of the project. Anything else is decoration and won’t resolve the problems.
- Build a good team of specialists (such as architects, a project manager and treasurer) as well as volunteers.
- Know what your skills are, and what they are not.
- Apply for grants and tailor your applications to the funds’ requirements.
- Allow a long lead time.
- Attend any local seminars held by funders, talk to them about your project. They want you to succeed, so work with them.