When I read last Autumn that the Friends of Needham Village Hall were having difficulty recruiting enough members to ensure the continuing viability of our hall I suggested launching a pilot entertainment programme to attract more villagers and promote this valuable community asset. After carrying out a survey asking local people what events they wanted which elicited 70 enthusiastic replies, we launched a publicity campaign in March consisting of flyers, posters and local press coverage to promote three different shows.
We kicked off on 1st April with my talk contrasting the myth of the brave and gallant highwayman, Dick Turpin, with the true story of one of history's most notorious robbers. While tucking into home-made sandwiches and cakes the audience at Everything Stops For Tea in May enjoyed a light-hearted entertainment about how afternoon tea developed into a national institution over more than 300 years. The third show in early June featured the very talented young classical guitarist, Peter Turrell playing music spanning the past 500 years from early Renaissance lute pieces through delicate baroque melodies to modern instrumental and flamenco music.
The audience of more than 100 people who supported the season were uniformly enthusiastic and appreciative – some travelled from as far afield as Norwich, Needham Market and Attleborough, but very few from Needham itself. Around a dozen villagers did, however, assist as volunteers in organising the shows and distributing the publicity. Harleston Information Plus provided us with box office facilities, many Harleston shops and businesses were happy to display posters and we were very grateful for the coverage in Grapevine, the Needham Link and other community magazines, as well as a front page article in the Harleston Mercury.
The aim had been to organise a season that covered its costs and, in fact, the events made a modest profit. However, despite all the publicity, the Village Hall Committee are still short of new members and are now urgently looking for a Treasurer.
Stephen Poulter
* Photos of the events on the centre pages
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