A FOUR-YEAR dream of a new village hall in Areley Kings has finally started to take shape with the builders moving in.

The £500,000 building - opposite the existing decrepit 80-year-old hall on Areley Common - will be finished in about seven months and has taken almost four years of fundraising.

Rob Fowler, chairman of the New Village Hall Committee, said it was "exciting" to see construction starting as the project had at first seemed daunting.

He added: "To start with we were thinking of a budget of about £250,000. When we wrote out our wish list and the estimates came back at double most of us thought 'we're not going to do this.'

"In a village of our size it's a huge amount of money."

The lion's share of funding for the £580,000 project has come from a £300,000 lottery grant and a £100,000 windfall from the sale of the present village hall's site but Mr Fowler said residents' generosity had also played a key part.

Some 75 people have paid up to £100 to have their names inscribed on tiles to form a special mosaic and receive reduced rates for events in the new hall.

A £10-a-go "buy-a-brick" campaign has also proved popular, Mr Fowler said.

Just £35,000 is still needed and fundraising will continue throughout construction.

Businesses are now being asked to chip in to ensure the target is met.

The new building will include a 200-seat hall and two smaller meeting rooms and Mr Fowler stressed it would be a facility for the whole community from arts groups to schools.

"It will make a lot more facilities available for more people, like the disabled who haven't been able to use the old parish room."

For further information contact Mr Fowler on 01299 824318.