The Village Hall has been host to all kinds of events over the years, adapting its range to move with the times.

Some are perennial activities, such as wedding receptions, coffee mornings, children’s parties, quizzes and use by the Forestry Commission. In more recent times, the choice of activities has expanded to include exercise classes, talks, bingo, craft workshops and visits from spiritualists.

Although Santon Downham is very small – just 80 houses – its village hall welcomes people from a much wider catchment area, including the surrounding towns and villages.

The old village hall was demolished some time ago to be replaced by the current structure,  which was known for a while as the New Village Hall.

Its formal name was Santon Downham Centre for a period up until 2023, when it became Santon Downham Village Hall. It has its own website (see website).

The Village Hall and Breckland Club share the same site.

Charitable Status

Santon Downham Village Hall was taken over by a new committee in October 2023.  On 28th January 2026 it became a Registered Charity.

It has a committed group of volunteers who organise, run and help at the huge variety of events welcoming people throughout the year. In addition, the Hall can be hired for private functions, such as wedding receptions, wakes, parties for adults or for children and baby showers.

There are car boot sales in the summer months and the Classic Car & Bike Day – with barbecue – is held in June. The pop-up cafe is open at both events selling cakes, bacon baps and sausage rolls as well as drinks.

Craft Fairs are run at Easter and Christmas and are in high demand.  The stalls sell out within days. A new event was a wedding fair, which was packed with ideas and drew a good turnout of happy couples, hoping to be inspired by what was on offer.

The calendar features popular monthly bingo evenings, as well as occasional afternoon bingo sessions in the winter months. Race nights and quiz night always attract a full house.

For those interested in singing, there is currently a monthly karaoke night as well as a weekly choir practice. The Santon Downham Village Hall Singers perform twice a year and the audience is encouraged to have a good singalong. An inaugural ‘open mic’ night was a sell-out.

Craft classes are very popular, with needle felting, decoupage, mandala dotting and wreath making to choose from.

Tai Chi, Dance Fit, Zumba and line dancing classes are available for those who like to keep fit.

Contact details and more information on the events  can be found at villagehallsantondownham.co.uk which also includes a link to the Village Hall’s Facebook group.

 

Old Village Hall

Santon Downham had a wooden building which served as Village Hall for many years.

 

Demolished in 2004 it was replaced by a purpose built structure which shares the site with the Breckland Club.

 

 

 

Chairman, treasurer, booking clerk, general repairman and licencee of Santon Downham village hall was Andrew Kedar. Other key figures in the Village Hall’s management included Val Marsh, Brenda Largent and Marilyn Boulton.

Andrew described the running of the old Hall in an interview in October 1999 .

The Village Hall operates as a charity, and fund raising is needed to keep it going. Car boot sales have been an essential part of this in recent years. “Without these annual events – about six a year – the village hall would be insolvent,” said Andrew.

When the hall opened, the village was almost entirely populated by people who worked in the forest. “It was a time before television was strong, it was a time before cars were common, it was a time when people made their own entertainment,” said Andrew. There was a small drama group here, there was a Women’s Institute and there may have been other active bodies back in the 50s and 60s. Through time they’ve gradually faded away.

The hall is used roughly 12 times in a month – mostly private events in the evenings. There are wedding receptions occasionally, baptism parties, birthday parties, a weekly line dancing club and darts matches. A new youth club is being set up.

In time people in the village wanted to form a members-only club with a licenced bar and the Brecklands Club was set up. This was given about a third of the hall, which was walled off to become the Club.

The Club is now very strong and has grown in size, with a new modern building in place of the old part of the wooden hut.

“But the Village Hall end will also be rebuilt as well,” said Andrew. “We have permission to rebuild it – but we do not have the money. Something in the region of £60,000-65,000 needs to be raised, and there is a grant of £28,000 available from the District Council if the rest of the money is in place”.

“There is no chance of raising the rest of the money inside the village,” said Andrew. An appeal has been made to the Lottery Commission Charities Board. “If we can get that, then the District Council grant will follow and we should be able to rebuild.”

Through the Village Hall, Santon Downham also hosts an annual major event which raises money for a children’s hospice. This is an annual sponsored bike ride in May, which raised £33,000 in 1999. Scout groups also meet sometimes at the hall for special events, and girl guides from outside the village recently raised £3,000 by a sponsored walk, in and around the village area. “These are just some of the events, but we could do with more of them,” said Andrew.

Income from the lettings of the Hall is not enough to do any more than just survive, said Andrew, and so car boot sales are now held every month in summer. The Village Hall charges a fee for the pitch and sells teas and cakes donated by villagers.

In 1999, £1,120 was raised after expenses – the best total yet, helped by good weather. “We continue to struggle with the money. It is adequate, but there is not a lot of surplus,” says Andrew, ” and we will now hope that the Lottery Commission Charities Board will come up with some money for us.”