THE future of a well-used church hall has been guaranteed - thanks to a major contribution from the National Lottery.

Villagers in Sowerby have been given reason to celebrate with the announcement of a £100,000 grant from the Community Fund.

It will enable them to press ahead with urgently-needed improvements to the local parochial church hall, which could be completed as early as next summer.

The success of the bid for funding follows years of preparatory work and the lottery cash will be topped up with another £11,000 that has been raised locally.

It is now planned to create a new toilet block and a new, much more spacious, entrance lobby to make the hall more inviting.

The existing windows will all be replaced and the car park is to be levelled and extended. There will also be facilities for disabled users throughout.

The hall was built in the years between the wars and although some improvement work has been carried out over the years, the major works were desperately needed.

The hall's chairman, Martin Hooper, said: "If we didn't improve the hall I think there could have been a major case to have it shut."

The use of the hall by local groups had been declining, particularly when a playgroup that once used it on a daily basis found its own premises.

Over the last three years however, usage has shot up by around 50 per cent and it is now thought to be one of the most heavily used halls of its type in the Hambleton district.

"The community has got very involved, doing things like painting murals and making wall-hangings and all sorts of local groups are now making use of the facilities," said Mr Hooper.

"The grant is super news for everyone in and around Sowerby," he added.

"It is a vote of confidence from the Community Fund which will encourage all of us associated with the hall to finish the work we have started, and to make it the first choice venue for all local organisations."