Further funds for Old School hall

The hall is "no ordinary building" but needs a lot of renovation

The East Dorset branch of a finance company has raised over £1,000 to support a refurbishment programme at a village's Old School hall.

The hall on Church Street in Sturminster Marshall was built in 1832.

No longer used as a school it now serves as a meeting place for various community groups, including Cubs and Scouts.

The local branch of finance firm Foresters Friendly Society has held meetings there for 130 years.

The building, managed and maintained by the Mackrell Charity, has been in need of substantial refurbishment for some time and a project set up by the Parish is in place to renovate it.

With current estimates suggesting that the overall cost will exceed £30,000, branch members at the society felt "compelled" to act.

Since 2007, the society has raised over £1,000 to help with the project through a series of activities including a sponsored walk, raffles and other events.

The hall is used by many local community groups

A final cheque will be presented to representatives of the Mackrell Charity on 8 December 2009 - the next quarterly branch meeting of the society at the Old School.

Michael Nightingale, the East Dorset branch secretary for Foresters Friendly Society, said: "The hall is no ordinary building - it has a value which cannot be defined in monetary terms alone.

"We are proud to be in a position to help support the renovation, for it has been the spiritual home of our local branch for over 130 years."

Last year also saw society members nationwide raise more than £47,000 for CLIC Sargent, a children's cancer charity.

Michael said: "I've been a branch secretary for over 43 years and we usually donate around £400 every year to local charities from fundraising activities.

"I am grateful for the support of all our local members who helped with the fundraising and we look forward to supporting the refurbishment work in other ways too".