During the month of August things are a little quieter at the Dersingham Village Centre. Some of our regular weekly hirers take a break during this month, which makes it a good time to carry out a bit of maintenance, painting and decorating and so on.

The Centre will be closed from Monday 22nd August until Friday 26th. During this short closure we hope to carry out a few essential tasks which will further improve the Centre for our visitors and hirers. The building will reopen on Saturday 27th August. Thank you for your support!

Update at 2pm Friday 18th February

Unfortunately the gales that are currently battering the local area have done some damage to the roof tiles at the Village Centre.  This means that the Centre will have to close with immediate effect until repairs can be carried out. We will keep you updated but we expect the Centre to remain closed for at least today and tomorrow. Sorry everybody, blame it on Eunice!

Dersingham Village Centre needs YOU! At the moment we have a number of volunteers and we are enormously grateful to them for all the effort they put in. But we would love to get more people involved and spread the load. You can become involved in helping to run the Village centre in two ways; either as a Volunteer or as a Trustee. Read on to see what’s involved in each role. Either as a Volunteer or as a Trustee you will be very welcome!

Contact us by emailing: contact@dersinghamvillagecentre.org.uk or telephone 01485 543195 (If necessary leave a message and we will call you back).

Volunteer

Naturally, any event that takes place in the Centre usually requires helpers of some sort. This particularly applies to things such as our regular friendship lunches and pop-up coffee shop, plus tea dances, film screenings and talks. One off fundraising events such as our ceilidh, quizzes and Christmas fair need helpers too. There are plenty of other opportunities, such as our gardeners who look after the flower beds that fringe the car park. If you would like to get involved and be part of the team, please get in touch.

Trustees

The Village Centre is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, run by a committee of Trustees who meet around two to three times a month.  At our meetings we discuss the management of the Centre’s finances, any issues to do with the day-to-day running of the building and make plans for future fund raising events. Plus, of course, we discuss any other issues that have come up since our last meeting.

Being a Trustee is a responsible position, but under the rules of the Charity Commissioners no Trustee can be held personally liable for any issues concerning the Centre, so if we make a loss you won’t have to make up any shortfall! As a Trustee you should live locally and be prepared to attend meetings and take part in the running of the Centre. You will be able to make your views known and be part of the decision making team. We welcome new Trustees, so if you would like to become involved please get in touch.

In line with the Government Road Map we have now been able to reopen the Centre and welcome back the majority of our exercise and dance groups.  Larger events such as film screenings, wedding receptions, parties etc. will resume later in the summer.

We have an enhanced cleaning programme to keep everyone as safe as possible, but it’s still essential that we all observe social distancing and wear face coverings when in the Centre. Hopefully it won’t be long before restrictions are a distant memory but in the meantime, don’t forget to wash those hands and let in plenty of fresh air. Let’s keep Dersingham healthy and safe!

Sorry everybody, but once more we have had to close the Centre, as Norfolk is currently under Tier 4 restrictions. We will reopen as soon as Government regulations permit. Please note that, whether restrictions are lifted or not, we are postponing our January Community Friendship Lunch and our January Film Screening. These will take place in February, if possible.

Not the best of starts to the year, but we’re sure that it won’t be long before things will improve and we can welcome everybody back to the Centre. You may be interested to know that the Trustees offered the use of the Village Centre to the NHS as a vaccination venue but we were politely informed that they already have arrangements in place.

Keep washing those hands and don’t forget to keep plenty of space between you and anyone you don’t actually live with. Let’s make Dersingham healthy and safe!

We have now reopened the Village Centre in a limited way, with small groups of exercise and dance classes resuming this week. A big welcome back to them!

At the present time the only rooms in the Centre that are open are: the main St Nicholas Hall, the entrance lobby and the toilet off the main hall. All other rooms, the Garden Room, the Loft, the Hub, the kitchen, the main toilets etc. will remain closed for the time being.

Once we have had some experience of running the Centre in the limited manner outlined above, we will start to plan for the opening up of the venue for other events and functions.  We will post more information here as soon as the situation becomes clearer.

Please do not come to the Centre unless it is for a prearranged group activity such as an exercise of dance class. Also, you should only come to a class if you have been definitely told by your tutor that it will be running. The Centre will not be open at the moment for any other visitors.

Meanwhile, stay safe, protect yourself and protect others and keep washing those hands. Let’s keep Dersingham fit and healthy!

Our planned reopening on the 6th July had to be delayed, due to Government restrictions on exercise and dance classes. But fortunately, those restrictions have been relaxed now, therefore we are making plans for limited opening from Saturday 25th July. It is important to say that, even at this late stage, there is a possibility of further changes to Government guidance, but we are hopeful that this time we really can start to welcome people back to the Centre!

What we hope will be possible . . .

The resumption of small groups of exercise and dance classes that use the main hall. Groups that normally use the smaller rooms in the Centre will have to  move temporarily into the main hall in order to maintain the correct social distancing.

The only rooms in the Centre that will be open initially will be: the main St Nicholas Hall, the entrance lobby and the toilet off the main hall. All other rooms, the Garden Room, the Loft, the Hub, the kitchen, the main toilets etc. will remain closed for the time being.

What we will NOT be able to do straight away . . .

In a normal week the Centre is used for many different types of event, including parties, weddings, community lunches, Village Voice talks, the Village Cinema and others. None of these will be able to take place yet. Once we have had some experience of running the Centre in the limited manner outlined above, we will start to plan for the opening up of the venue for these larger functions. It is not currently possible to say when this will be. We will post more information here as soon as the situation becomes clearer.

Please do not come to the Centre unless it is for a prearranged group activity such as an exercise of dance class. Also, you should only come to a class if you have been definitely told by your tutor that it will be running. The Centre will not be open at the moment for any other visitors.

Meanwhile, stay safe, protect yourself and protect others and keep washing those hands. Let’s keep Dersingham fit and healthy!

Obviously, with the ongoing health issues at the moment, many people will be concerned about public venues, meetings, group classes etc. At Dersingham Village Centre we are following the government health guidelines and remaining open and operational until such time as that advice changes.

Centre users may like to check with their course tutors to make sure that classes are going ahead. Should we hear of cancellations we will post the information here on our Blog and also on the Village Centre Facebook page.

Meanwhile we encourage all Centre visitors to wash their hands and observe sensible hygiene precautions wherever possible. Let’s keep Dersingham fit and healthy!