TEDDINGTON VILLAGE HALL
The village hall in Teddington was built in the mid 1930's. Among the earliest records are accounts and receipts relating to a Coronation Party held there in 1937 and some of the names appearing, such as those of the Falls and the Firkins, are of families still connected with the village today.
Teddington Village Hall passed into the ownership of a charitable trust under the terms of a trust deed drawn up in 1947. The hall was sold to the trust by the Holland-Martin family of Overbury for the nominal sum of ,5. The trust deed states that the hall is held upon trust Afor the purposes of physical and mental training and recreation and social, moral and intellectual development . . . for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of Teddington.
The hall is run by a management committee, which ensures that the hall facilities are kept in a good state of repair. For example, the coal fires were replaced when electricity came to the village in the early 1950's and a toilet block was added in the mid 1970's. A kmajor programme of repair and refurbishment was launced at the end of 1995 with a fund raising appeal that attracted donations from charitable trusts and local companies, as well as generous support from the Parish Council. New tables and chairs were acquired, overhead halogen heating installed, the kitchen upgraded and the hall completely redecorated internally and externally. Since then a ramp to provide access for persons unable to manage the steps has been installed and the parking area improved by the addition of a tarmac surface.
The expenses of running the hall - insurance, lighting, heating, water and routine repairs - are met from an annual grant from the Parish Council, income from hall lettings and the proceeds of an annual Lucky Number Club competition. Within recent years a Montessori school has been set up and is regularly attended by a number of younger children. The hall is one of the venues at which Parish Council meetings are regularly held and is also available for hire at very competitive rates for children=s parties, social gatherings and other meetings.
