12:40PM, Thursday 13 July 2023
Bray Village Hall celebrated its 100th anniversary on Saturday with a day filled with history, music and art.
Maidenhead MP Theresa May unveiled the centennial plaque along with author Frieda Hughes, who also read a passage fromher book ‘George - A Magpie Memoir’ during the event.
Cllr Suzanne Cross, a Bray parish councillor and Bray Village Hall trustee, said: “It was great that Mrs May accepted my invitation and spent quite some time with us on Saturday.
“Bray Village Hall is a volunteer-run community building and charity.
“The trustees are dedicated on supporting the long-term future of the hall, ensuring it continues to provide a warm and welcoming space for all and remains the 'hub' of village life.”
The celebrations carried on throughout the entire day, with a history exhibition showcasing the life of the hall through the years.
Children enjoyed a ‘fantastic’ pantomime production of Alice in Wonderland followed by coffee, ice cream, charcuterie, cream teas and fish and chips, which Suzanne said ‘meant we had to dance it off with music through the decades’.
Residents enjoyed an evening of dancing through the years during the evening party from 7pm to 11pm.
Author and poet, Frieda Hughes, daughter of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, also signed books after her reading.
Mike Charleton, vice chairman and treasurer, said: “We’re celebrating the fact that we've been in service to the village of Bray for 100 years and we're still going strong.
“We’ve done lots of updating to the hall in recent years and we’re trying to make it more of a place for the locals.
“We have a bar and it’s open on Thursdays and Fridays, locals and everybody else are welcome, but we're trying to make it so that it’s a central meeting point for locals.”
Bray Village Hall relies on donations and help from volunteers.
If you would like to get involved, please contact Mike Charleton on 07813922219 or mikecharleton@gmail.com.
A crowdfunding page has also been set up to raise £10,000 towards its complete refurbishment as part of plans to make it a community hub.
To donate, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ian-jenkins-2
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