Having been rescued from closure, the village hall was rebranded Aythorpe Roding Community Hub, and the amenity was officially launched during the jubilee celebrations.

To support the hub, Gigaclear is providing free ultrafast broadband to make the venue more attractive and convenient for prospective hirers. It could also help save on costs such as heating through the use of efficient wi-fi enabled timers and thermostats. 

Gina Sykes, one of six villagers who became trustees of the village hall in order to save it for the community, said: “We have been working really hard over the past couple of months getting everything in order, as well as planning our Jubilee launch event which received lots of support from locals and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.”

Gina said there are plans to hold events such as cinema nights, a pop-up pub, amateur dramatics, quizzes and training days as well as inviting local schools to use the venue.

She added: “We have lots of plans for the community hub and having access to ultrafast broadband only increases our range of opportunities to generate an income, which, being a self-funded charity is necessary if the amenity is to survive. First and foremost, the hub belongs to the community, and as trustees, we are merely custodians. We believe that the heart of any rural village is the village hall and without it what is special about the community will be lost – thus our slogan “Keeping Villagers Together”.

Aythorpe Roding Community Hub is the latest community hub to be supported by Gigaclear. Over the past six years, the UK’s largest rural full fibre broadband provider has provided more than 200 village halls, primary schools, pubs and sports centres across its network with free ultrafast broadband.