THE rebuild of Eastham Memorial Hall is expected to be completed in December but any hopes of the village celebrating with a festive party is not going to be possible.

Work on demolishing the old hall that was built nearly 100 years ago after the end of world-war-one started, at the end of the summer.

The hall was built in memory of the men from the area who died in the Great War.

But with one project almost completed villagers have launched another.

This time it is a scheme to build a community garden.

The garden will provide a relaxing environment for everyone at the heart of the village.

It is designed to promote a healthy lifestyle including gardening and encouraging interaction between people of all ages.

The Memorial Hall committee want to enhance the outside area around the Hall to make it more private and appealing for residents to sit in at any time.

During Covid 19 the outside area of the Hall has been a focal point for residents, it has been used in many ways to keep the community connected and so the idea was born to build upon this.

Seating will be installed with tables so residents can meet to eat and drink outside in a relaxing garden area with lovely plants around them to create an area screened from the road by climbing plants on frames.

Plants will be in raised beds so residents with disabilities can help to maintain them, the local garden club are keen to help with this.

The plants will be chosen to attract wildlife, adults will help the local children to create bug houses and hedgehog houses to encourage their interest and create a sense of ownership.

Water features will encourage wildlife, gain the interest of children and be a relaxing feature for adults.

Children will be encouraged to visit the garden to see what bugs are about and play in the water feature. The school bus stops outside the Hall so it will be an ideal place for children to play whilst parents have a chat.

There is a crowd funding initiative on-going and so far the village has raised more than £2,000 of the £6,600 that will be needed to enable work on the planting to start at the beginning of next year with the idea that the garden will be ready for the summer.