Just shy of York by about 15 miles, lies the medieval village of Saxton.
With a population of around 250, one pub and a primary school this ancient village also has like many English towns…a village hall.
Saxton Village Hall in North Yorkshire up to a year ago was very run down, underused and not fit for purpose.
A year ago the local community stalwarts decided to tackle the hall and bring it into the 21st century. They started by installing a new kitchen and new equipment for which they received a grant. The community spirit quickly came alive and a veritable hive of activity began. Volunteers painted and decorated the hall to brighten it up and a further grant provided new tables and chairs.
Completed in April last year bookings for family gatherings and even new yoga classes began, together with monthly film nights for the local neighbourhood. For 2016 they now have a calendar of events for the community and it’s brought muchneeded life back into the village. However, what was really needed to finish the hall was new fit for purpose flooring. The existing floor was tatty, torn, filthy and marked. It ruined the look of the newly decorated hall and was becoming a health & safety issue. They would need some help. It would be a plea for help that wouldn’t be falling on deaf ears at international flooring and finishing solutions specialists Gerflor.
Carol Patton, from the Village Hall Committee commented: “I wrote to a number of flooring manufacturers and the only one who not only had the courtesy to reply, but made the most enormous & generous offer was Gerflor, they were more than willing to donate the correct type of flooring required for the hall.”
With over 70 years’ flooring experience Gerflor specialise in the manufacture of flooring solutions that combine technical and design characteristics for a host of community facilities and environments.
Carol goes onto further comment: “Initially we were offered one type of flooring but when Gerflor understood that the hall was used on a Monday by the school for a gym class they recommended a flooring that was suitable for the variety of activities that would take place in the hall.
“Gerflor said they could donate 250m2 of their Taralay Premium Comfort and could I use it all? As we only required 140m2 for the hall I contacted the village primary school and asked the headmistress if they could use it?
“The headmistress couldn’t believe the offer and said she knew exactly which classrooms she could use it for. She was absolutely over the moon.”
Janet Train, Gerflor Manager of Commercial Operations commented: “We received a request from the charity that is the Saxton Village Hall and it transpired that their primary school also needed flooring. We were absolutely delighted to help these worthwhile community causes.”
Taralay Premium Comfort from Gerflor provides the perfect solution for heavy traffic areas with a wear layer of 1mm, with no filler for outstanding abrasion and scratch resistance. Taralay Premium Comfort delivers high acoustic performance (16dB) and has an indentation resistance to 0.06mm. It has a double glass fibre grid plus VHD foam backing.
Taralay Premium Comfort also comes with Protecsol 2 surface treatment for easy maintenance and has a long lasting appearance where the design remains within the whole thickness of the wear layer.
Carol finally said: "The village has benefitted two-fold and we are eternally grateful to Gerflor’s generosity. It has made an enormous difference to our community. The hall now looks wonderful, clean fresh and bright, all thanks to Gerflor.”