I am pleased to be able to confirm that the Parish Council has agreed to apply for a Public Works Board loan for £100,000 which, when received, will be given to the hall trustees to enable us to complete the hall construction. The grant arrangements with Kent County Council have also been confirmed and we should be receiving the first payments of the grant against invoices submitted by the contractor very shortly.

The last New Year’s Eve party in the present hall was judged to be a great success by the 70 or so people who attended.

The construction of the new Memorial Hall is now well underway, with the timber frame erection beginning on Wednesday 20th January. Scott Wishart is doing a great job in recording the construction, so please take a look at our website at www.plattwarmemorial.org to see the photographs which show the work going on at the new hall. The website also shows Barry Baker and David Vallance removing the war memorial plaques from the old hall and the deconstruction of the brickwork which will be reconstructed on the new hall, probably in February.

We are now planning the last events to be held in the original hall, with an AGM in the second half of March and a ‘Farewell Party’ being held on 12th June, shortly after which we will be moving our furniture, crockery, cutlery and equipment across the road to the new building. It is still hard for us to believe that, after 15 years of struggle, we have finally achieved our aim of creating a new hall to act as our War Memorial for the next 100 years in Platt.

Sandy Mackay, Chairman of the Trustees