September 2025
Construction Progress
The construction project is now complete, and the Bromham Community Hub building was handed over to the Trustees on 18th July 2025. The Charity now formally owns the building and has a 125 year lease on the parcel of land.
Immediately the Trustees took ownership of the building, we invited village groups and those directly connected with the fundraising and its development, to see inside. Although we are restricted in how many people can enter the building because it does not yet have a full certificate of occupation, we are delighted that we have been able to show escorted groups around the building. It has been wonderful to see and hear so many positive comments as people enter our new hall – the most common word has been “Wow!”
The building contract in total has cost £1,457,247.79 and this figure includes the value of the plumbing supplies donated by Active Plumbing, and the granite worktops donated by Windsmere, plus all the extras we have needed to add into the contract along the way to make sure the building works as we need it to. The project finance has been very carefully controlled and we have stayed within budget – although we did spend every last pound of the small contingency by the end of the contract! We are absolutely delighted the Hub has achieved an energy performance rating (EPC) of A.
Landscaping and Planting
As is now clearly visible, the hard landscaping, being completed by the Wednesday Club volunteers with the support of a grant from Hills Waste/Community First, is very nearly finished.
The planting team are all organised and standing by waiting to complete the very final part of the project, planting the trees and plants as approved by Planning when the time is right. We are hoping to offer plants for sponsorship so that anyone can ‘buy a plant’ and the planting team will put it in its designated spot for you, we will let you know via Spotted in Bromham.
Entrance Hall
The Café looking toward the doors with the cafe/bar just out of view on the left. Just waiting for tables, chairs, cakes and teas!
The North Hall
Inside the North Hall kitchen
The South Hall. You can also see the "hatch" for the South bar/café and, on the right, the "hatch" for the North Hall kitchen
Inside the building
It may not be as visible as the landscaping, but a lot of work is still going on inside the building. We are currently spending the funding received from other grants, gifts from individuals and further village fundraising, to furnish and equip the inside of the building whilst the landscaping and planting is being completed outside.
The insurance policy is operational, the utilities contracts are in place, the appliances are being installed in the kitchens. The Hub now has the very first high-speed fibre service to be installed in Bromham. Installation did cause some delay, but the fibre to the premises service is now activated and the Wi-Fi installation will be operational in early September. The Audio Visual equipment is scheduled for installation at the end of September. Furniture is being installed as it is delivered and all the furniture and crockery donated by Sainsburys will be cleaned and transferred from storage to the building. We will need a bit of help with cleaning in the next few weeks.
One of our planning conditions is that the planting must be completed before the end of the first planting season after occupation. We must clear other remaining planning conditions (e.g. a noise management plan) before we can occupy the building and we must also gain a final approval from Building Control.
Building Control have carried out numerous site visits to check that Rigg Construction have met all the vast array of regulations required of a building such as Bromham Community Hub. Their final check will be that the patio meets all safety regulations. Then, if we have also cleared the remaining planning conditions and we have an approved fire risk assessment completed, we can finally occupy the building.