AN appeal to raise thousands of pounds to fund repairs to a much-used village hall has reached its target in just two years.

Villagers in Sutton have helped to raise £10,000 to repair St Thomas' Hall.

This week appeal organisers announced they were closing the fund after reaching the magic figure.

An appeal thermometer outside the hall in Main Street has been rising steadily since January 1997 showing exactly how much cash had been raised so far.

The appeal was launched after part of the ceiling in the hall caved in.

Heavy snow and bad weather conditions were blamed for the collapse, as the ceiling had had to be patched up on a number of occasions.

This left many village groups and organisations without a home for sometime until repairs could be carried out.

St Thomas' Hall was built in the 1920s and left in trust to the village by mill owners the Bairstow family.

Unfortunately they did not leave an endowment to maintain its upkeep and that has been left to the people of the village, headed by the parochial church council at the nearby St Thomas' Church.

PCC secretary Jean Goode said it was due to the hard work of the people of Sutton that the appeal target had been reached in such a short space of time.

"We would like to say a big thank you to all those who helped to raise money for the hall,' she said.

'People supported our events and that helped us to reach the total quickly.'

Fundraising events included a number of coffee mornings, a band concert and a popular fashion show.

'We also held a door-to-door collection and people gave very generously,' added Mrs Goode.

'We would also like to thank Craven District Council and the Rural Development Commission for giving us grants.

'It was a lot of money for us to raise for such a small village, but without support we couldn't have done it.'

The management of St Thomas' Hall was recently turned over to a steering group which will handle bookings, rent and upkeep.

The group is made up of representatives from organ-isations and groups in the village.

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