A VILLAGE hall committee and local residents have celebrated the community spirit of a town after a complete renovation was made possible through grants and free labour.

Colburn Village Hall has had new windows, doors, roof and external insulation, after receiving £15,000 of free labour from Hambleton First who provided the insulation, and grants from Richmondshire District Council, a military covenant grant and the town council.

Chairman of Colburn Town Council Angie Dale said: “The event was also to celebrate the hard work of local children, residents and the council to completely redevelop four play parks in Colburn.

“Children in local primary schools have been brilliant and gave us lots of ideas, and two years later they are all complete.

“The town hall is also looking fantastic. We have new windows, doors and a roof thanks to £35,000 from Richmondshire District Council’s Communities Opportunities Fund.

“I managed to persuade Hambleton First to do the work for us after we opened the village hall up to them when they were putting new insulation on homes in the area and created a cafe for them.

“I was a bit cheeky and asked if they would do the work for free and they said yes.”

The event also marked the completion of four play parks in Colburn, after the town council received around £170,000 from the district council, town council, Garrison Area Partnership and a covenant fund.

Mrs Dale said: “We had around 80 people at the celebratory lunch and it was fantastic. All the work just shows the wonderful community spirit of Colburn .”