The Regency Hall management committee are delighted to announce that the past few weeks have been extremely fruitful and all the funding required for the demolition and re-build of the Regency Hall has now been obtained and is in place.

At the end of February, they reported that the BIG Lottery had awarded £500K towards the total project requirement of £1,250M, and since then, the Welsh Government's CFAP scheme has awarded £300K, and PLANED (Pembrokeshire Local Action Network for Enterprise and Development, based in Narberth), has agreed to support the project with a financial package of £250K. This, combined with money already collected over the years via the on-going 'Buy-a-Brick' campaign and other in-house fundraising activities, and PCC's contribution towards the new library and IT suite to be housed within the new centre, means that the total required of £1,250 million is now in place and the project is now 'full steam ahead', and the re-build will commence at the beginning of September this year.

Susan Boughton-Thomas, treasurer of the management committee, said: "All the hard work has proved to be well worthwhile, and we are delighted that all those funders to whom we sent applications last year, have confirmed and approved the need for our project, our aims and objectives, and are in agreement that the Regency Hall is the vital 'hub' of Saundersfoot and its surrounding area, and is an essential part of village life, and that of its residents and visitors.

"Now that all the funds are in place, we can move forward to ensure that the new Regency Hall provides not only state-of-the-art facilities available to everyone in the area, but also will reflect the heritage of the old hall.

"To that end, we have instructed our design team to re-use certain cherished parts of the hall, such as the beautiful maple floor in the main room, which will be re-laid in the foyer area of the new hall, and all plaques and stones signifying the history of the hall will occupy pride of place within the new building.

"We are very proud of the success of our fund-raising efforts, both internally and externally, and this is due to the team effort of the committee; but also the support and encouragement we have received from everyone in the village has made us realise that the Regency Hall will be an essential component in the re-vitalisation of the village which is very exciting and will be happening over the next few years."

The next few months will be a very busy time for the committee, who will be working very hard carrying out a variety of research, for the benefit of the project. Negotiations with the design team are well-advanced, tenders to selected potential building companies are about to be sent out, and local companies will be given the opportunity to be part of the building process.

Also, in a few weeks time, the committee, along with members of the Footlights Theatre Group, will be visiting a selection of theatres and halls as far away as Rhondda to glean ideas for theatre and sound equipment, cinema screens, seating, kitchen installations etc, to ensure that the new hall will be able to cater for the needs of every type of user when it re-opens in Autumn 2013.

The closing of the Regency Hall at the end of August will be marked by a farewell party - open to all - and further details will be made available during the summer months -watch this space!