Our History
The Hall was built in 1747 with money left in trust by Dame Dorothy Jeffreys for the setting up of an Endowed School. it was used off and on mainly for education related activities until the mid-1900’s. An old army hut purchased in 1921 and positioned alongside the Hall became the centre of village social life until it was declared unsafe and demolished in 1960. Other options to replace the hut were explored but the old Endowed School which had more recently been used as a dining room for school meals was now available. A public meeting was held in January 1962 which unanimously supported the purchase of the property and it was sold by the Dame Dorothy Jeffreys Trust to the Bangor Isycoed Parish Institute in March 1963, and ownership was transferred to the residents of Bangor on Dee.
The village grew significantly in the late 60s and early 70s and a Management Committee began to develop the Hall and its facilities. The kitchen and toilets were added to the front of the Hall in 1966, and extensions were added in 1973 and 1988, more than doubling the size of the Hall.
Projects continued after the Millennium with refurbishment of the kitchen, new tables and chairs, new windows and doors, removal of pillars, replacement of the floor, fitting of a movable partition, sound and lighting systems, and a resurfaced car park. The overall cost has been more than £100,000.
Over the last 50 years, all this has been achieved by volunteers, who have managed the Hall, and raised money by running our village lottery and securing grants from local and national agencies which provided the majority of the funding required for the development.
Today’s Organisation
In 2018 the Hall became a registered Charity – Bangor Isycoed Village Institute. There are 7 Trustees who must be residents of Bangor on Dee and up to 4 can also be Village Hall Management Committee (VHMC) members. The Trustees are responsible for upholding the Constitution and Objective of the Charity “to provide and maintain a village hall and other facilities for the use of the residents of Bangor on Dee.” The management of the Hall is delegated to the VHMC and the Trustees at their meetings review, on behalf of the residents, the performance of the VHMC and consider requests from it for expenditure above the limit allowed by the VHMC’s terms of reference. The Annual General Meeting of the Institute is normally held in May. Trustees may serve for up to 3 years before seeking re-election.
The VHMC consists of elected or co-opted members and representatives of the “not for profit” organisations and the Community Council. The Committee meets on the first Tuesday of most months to review the Hall’ s financial position, future bookings, User’s concerns, maintenance, and health and safety issues. In accordance with its Terms of Reference the VHMC must ensure that the Hall and its facilities are available for the use of both regular and ad-hoc users whenever reasonably required, must keep abreast of the changing needs of users and potential users, and be prepared to exploit opportunities which will add value to the Hall and secure its long-term future.
For more information on our current team, visit the Our Team page.
Bangor-on-Dee Village Hall 