St John’s Parish Hall in Grove Lane is an excellent community resource, available to hire to local residents for private parties and fundraising events. Kingston Kindergarten, a private day nursery operates there each morning and throughout the week, the hall is used by various local organisations and groups in the community. The hall has been the home of the Spring Grove Fringe for the last 20 years who have raised considerable sums for charity.
The Hall hire charges are currently as follows:
Morning/Afternoon session: £66
Friday evening: £66
Saturday evening: £88
Fur further information and to discuss the terms of hire please contact the hall administrator Joan McConn: 020 8549 8424.
St John’s Parish Hall is owned by the church. In thinking about how St John’s Church might be modernised and redeveloped to become a community resource, the future of the Parish Hall has become part of that discussion. A letter from the Team Rector Jonathan Wilkes sets out the current position below. Your comments are welcome, do get in touch with Jonathan who is overseeing life at St John’s during Vicky Maunder’s maternity leave. |
6th February 2012
St John’s Church and Hall
Over the last 9 months or so the Church Council at St John’s has been considering development plans to create extensive community facilities at the church. Although the impetus for this has been the urgent need to replace failing heating and lighting systems, and to address important access issues into the building, the need offers an opportunity to make much better use of the space as a community facility. The church is the largest and most prominent public building in the neighbourhood and its redevelopment offers a wonderful opportunity to create flexible and accessible facilities for us all. The scheme will provide a large performance space, catering facilities for gatherings and celebrations, and smaller rooms for meeting. A feasibility study about how this might be achieved is on display in the church (and on its website) or on the Spring Grove Residents Association website. Everyone is very welcome to take a look at it.
Alongside this, the church is also reviewing its management of the other community space it owns and is responsible for; the Parish Hall. We are looking at how the Hall can best be used as a community asset and some of you will know that, as part of our considerations, the prospect of selling the Hall has had to be raised.
I should stress, here, two things. Firstly, that it is only an option at this stage and no more than one of a number of ideas and possibilities being explored and, secondly, that it is not our preferred way forward. As a valued community facility we would hope not to have to sell the Hall if at all possible.
That the possibility of its sale has even been raised is simply a matter of practical necessity. To prevent the Church from falling into unusable disrepair, and to fulfill the potential it has as a community asset, will cost anything up to £1.5 million. As a Grade II listed building, the Church is not only a permanent feature of the neighbourhood (unlike other buildings), but it also provides a unique opportunity to offer a wide range of facilities for the people who live here.
Our hope will be that we can raise the money we need without selling the Hall, but common sense dictates that we should have an open mind about the best way to take forward the community assets that we are responsible for.
This is why we are inviting an open, community wide, discussion about how best to resolve the urgent and real problems that we face while, at the same time, ensure that the best facilities for our life together are available to us.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions we’d be really pleased to know them.
With best wishes
Jonathan Wilkes
You can write to Jonathan at 15 Woodbines Avenue, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2AZ or contact him on 020 3132 8717 or ask902@googlemail.com
