Mapplewell & Staincross Village Hall

The Village Hall was purchased from funds raised by public subscription in the 1960’s. It went on to be managed by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council for twenty years.

The Village Hall as it was in 1952

In 1995 the Council decided that the Hall was no longer financially viable and unless a local Management Committee took over the day to day running, it would be closed. The regular users of the Hall at that time formed the first Committee and they went on to register the Hall as a Charity but with a Trading arm of the same name attached.

This new Committee devised a Business Development Plan which looked at improving the hall over a number of different phases. Each of these phases were to be funded separately so as to allow the progress of improvements to be introduced in priority order. The objective was that the hall should be self-sustainable and so devised a strategy to avoid grant dependence.

A key part of this strategy has been to bring a range of services to one convenient, attractive and central location working with other agencies to the benefit of the local Community. As you would expect, by design – the Hall is fully accessible to all with a lift to the first floor, ramps to the building as well as disabled toilet facilities.

Over the years, the Mapplewell and Staincross Village Hall has become a successful meeting place for the Community and surrounding area that it serves. It provides education courses, leisure activities, information surgeries and an abundance of ‘well being’ classes for young, old and infirm alike. It presents a warm, safe environment in pleasant surroundings and a staff that truly care.

But as well as the Community activities on offer, It is also the home of a number of other small businesses. These rent office and work space directly from the charity on a month by month basis. These include the Mapplewell and Staincross Library, Leapahead Day Nursery, The Village Hall Cafe and a whole host of other smaller and diverse businesses that indirectly invest into the Community – for the benefit of the Community.

Regular supporters of the Village Library

The Management Committee continue to regularly meet to ensure the development of the site so as to maximise both Community benefit and income. More importantly, there is a dedicated management team in place that not only oversee the ‘day to day’ running of the hall but who actively look for new opportunities and new interests that continue to attract people through the doors and benefit Mapplewell and Staincross as a whole.

Over 100,000 visitors a year

But the backbone of the Hall is the combination of users and volunteers alike. The venue receives over 100,000 visitors every year – and is growing. For this reason, unlike many Village Halls, Mapplewell and Staincross Village Hall continues to thrive – fulfilling its objective of becoming the hub of the community. A place of the people for the people!