The Village Hall is in need of a Bookings Secretary. Perhaps there is somebody in the village who feels they could fill this voluntary role, not really a very onerous one, says the retiring secretary, Lesley Shervington, who has looked after the bookings calendar very efficiently and very ably for many years.

The hall is widely used, not just by the numerous organisations within the village such as Table Tennis, W.I., Keep Fit and the History Group, but also by clubs and societies from the surrounding area. Some of its first users were Ripon Community Orchestra and the Morris Dancers, who still use the hall on a weekly basis. It is also hired privately for one-off celebrations, about 70-80 per year, many of which are children's birthday parties. There is usually at least one wedding a year and twice a year, in the Spring & Autumn, two Indian religious festivals take place in the hall, very colourful and lively events with lots of music. The now well established Ripon Rotary Charity Bike Race starts and finishes at the hall. It is certainly a venue that buzzes with activity.

Despite the hall being very busy, Lesley would like to offer reassurance that the job does not take as much time as it would seem it might do from reading the paragraph above-probably no more than one to two hours spread over the week. There is a separate mobile phone and email address so anybody taking on the role will not have to put their personal details into public domain. A lap top is provided

The bookings secretary does not have to be on hand to let hirers into the hall. There is a secure key box outside the hall from where the key is collected and where it is to be returned after the booking has ended. An occasional “show round” is required for new bookings, but this will be at a time convenient to both parties and can, and will be, shared with others.

As the bookings system becomes more and more automated, currently a work in progress, the role of the bookings secretary will become slightly less time consuming, but none the less vital to ensure everything runs smoothly with no double bookings.

It is a role that two people could fill so that the task does not have to fall entirely on one person's shoulders. This would also help ensure holiday cover. The new person should, ideally, take over from June 1st, but Lesley says “Please don't think you will be just cast adrift. I will remain very much on hand to help out with advice and to ease you into the role. Just ask”.

If you would like to discuss this role further, please contact Lesley by email: click or telephoning 07413 001473

The Village Hall, with full disabled access, opened on January 29th, 2005, the same day the village website was launched. When a Lottery Grant bid to build the hall failed, villagers decided to raise the money themselves and this they certainly did, amassing the sum of £450k, a substantial part of which was donated by the W.I. which sold its old wooden Hall on Main Street for housing and by the Trustees of the Mechanics' Institution who agreed to sell the Institution, now in use as a private house.

For 20 years the Hall has been much used, greatly appreciated and is a great asset to the community, making a huge contribution to the community life of this rural village. Its myriad uses continue to grow as will be evidenced next month when the BBC begins filming its CBeebies sitcom/pre-school comedy, “The Football Fantastics”