'We are a small but very close-knit community' - villagers near Banbury gather for annual Christmas lunch

More people attended the annual free community Christmas lunch, organised by the village hall committee, this year than ever before.

Volunteers spent the morning cooking and preparing 90 meals for people to enjoy in the hall and another 25 meals for delivery to residents unable to attend.

Following the traditional Christmas lunch, pupils from Boddington Primary Academy entertained guests with a stellar carol-singing performance.

The village hall was first built in 2004 and has remained an important community hub for the remote rural village ever since.

It plays host to several events, including regular coffee mornings, film nights, WI meetings, and short mat bowls sessions, as well as children’s football tournaments, fireworks displays and weddings.

Two regular visitors to the village hall are Sandy Pattenden and Phillip Knight, who both say the venue plays a significant role in their lives in the village.

Sandy said: “The village hall is the heart of the community; there is something on in the hall almost seven days a week, all for the community.

“The free Christmas lunch for the elderly of the village is all paid for throughout the year by money raised from events the committee runs.

“The committee works incredibly hard and I look forward to these events all year. We are a small village but a very close-knit community and this venue is very much a focal point of the village.”

Phillip said: “I have lived in Boddington for 50 years, and I just love the place. Since we have lived here, the village hall has been the highlight of our lives.

“There is a stronger sense of community in the village now than in all the time I have lived in the village.

“I would say this village hall is the envy of all the villages around here; it really is an incredible place.”

A team of around 25 volunteers ensures the maintenance of the hall and the organising of events throughout the year.

Alison Burton has been on the village hall’s committee for around ten years. She started helping out in the cafe and has become more involved in the organising of events over time.

She said: “The village hall provides a lifeline for many of the elderly villagers in the area.

“Every Friday we have a cafe from 10am until 12pm, which is open to everyone. It started quite small, but now it draws between 40 and 70 people each week.

“We do bacon and sausage sandwiches, homemade cakes, teas and coffees and it’s very popular among the elderly villagers. For some of them, it may be the only time they see people during the week."

Many residents of neighbouring villages also attend the weekly café and other events held at Boddington’s Village Hall, making it not only a community hub for the village but also the wider area.

Chairman of Boddington Village Hall Caroline Sheers said: “We try to put on events and activities to cater to all ages, from line dancing, pilates and ballet to the weekly cafe, which is such an important part of many people’s lives.

“We are quite isolated here, with no bus service and nowhere else for people to go, so as a community we try to look after each other.”

Recently the village hall was able to invest in a new children’s play park, bike park and forest school thanks to fundraising initiatives by the committee and village parish council and a grant from the HS2 Community and Environment Fund.

The committee is now in the process of extending the hall and creating a separate and more accessible meeting room for smaller gatherings.

Caroline said: “The idea is to build a single-story building attached to the main hall that overlooks the playing field that we will use as an additional space for people that can’t access the upstairs room in the hall.

“We hope that groups that help with dementia and wellness will use the new hall and that we can take on a lot more activities that we simply can’t facilitate at the moment to further support the community.

“It’s a very exciting time for us, and it will bring the hall into the next 20 years. We are also looking at making it much more energy efficient with solar panels and electric vehicle charging.”

The committee has already secured planning permission for the project and hopes construction work on the extension will begin early next year.

For more information about the village hall, including future events, visit: https://www.boddingtonvillagehall.co.uk/