“We can’t believe how cheap the hire charges are!”

                This year at the Hall we have been quite surprised by feedback we have received from Pickering people who have booked the Hall for weddings, children's parties, christenings etc. We expected that their comments would be complimentary in terms of the spacious modern rooms, the accessibility and the excellent service provided. What we did not expect was that many of them commented that they had been reluctant to enquire about the Hall as they felt that such a well-equipped beautiful building would be way beyond their reach financially. They had not realised that, because the Hall was bequeathed to the people of Pickering, we have always maintained local rates for local people and do our very best to keep the hire charges so that members of our community can use their hall not just admire it! Several times this year our clients have said “We can’t believe how cheap it is to hire the Whistler Hall.” We have a huge, clean, modern hall with good lighting and sound facilities a catering kitchen (soon to be improved even further) and a superb floor for dancing.

                Many of our new clients have told us that they had lived in Pickering all their lives but had never been to have a look around the Memorial Hall and had never previously considered how they could use it for family events. This set us thinking about how to make sure that the residents of the Pickering area know about their Hall.  To that end we would like to invite everyone reading this article to pop into the Hall on any weekday morning and ask our staff for a conducted tour. This applies to everyone, not just those people who may wish to hire the Hall in the future. We are very proud of this community facility and, as it belongs to us all, we feel that everyone in Pickering should feel that they really do own it.

                We have had a good summer in 2010.  The community day, held on a beautiful Saturday in July was a great success. Our musical activities were also popular.  The “Night Owl” sequence dances and “Dance-tastic” classes continued to attract those wishing to keep healthy and active whilst enjoying a good social outing. The legendary Jazz Festival was sold-out as usual and a new karate club has attracted many young clients.

                We are looking forward to a very active autumn this year. On Saturday 16th October we will hold our usual “British Restaurant and Soup kitchen”, where superb value home-made soup, sandwiches and cakes will be served from 10.00am until 3.00pm.  In the evening we welcome the superb concert party “Miscellany”, who have agreed to return yet again with a brand new show for the evening performance. The “Fantastic Forties” style entertainment  features live music, comedy, sketches and, of course, the customary community singing. The performance will take place from 7.30pm, and there will be a licensed bar and raffle. Concert tickets, priced at £10.00 have almost sold out already.

                We have been very lucky in recent months in that we have a new Trustee, Alan, who has taken on the much needed role of maintenance. He regularly inspects the Hall, sorts out any minor problems and lets us know exactly what needs to be done in terms of maintenance. We are always keen to attract more new volunteers and we are desperate for more people to help with the “Wartime Weekend”.  In particular we need: raffle prizes, cakes, donations and musicians. Anyone interested in taking part in or supporting the Hall in any way, or who would like to visit us, please contact the Hall any weekday morning between 9am and noon, (telephone 01751 477522) and speak with our secretary, Mal Danks.