Kennet Valley Village Hall has been awarded £10,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund to install an innovative ventilation system.

Chairman, Bryan Rayment, hopes the installation will reassure residents who may be worried about returning after the Covid pandemic.

With winter months looming, community halls face a problem of maintaining good ventilation without losing heat. A system specially designed by the hall's trustees and Carlton Services of Swindon, using components by Mitsubishi, looks to solve just that.

The system, scheduled to be installed this autumn before the onset of winter weather, will carefully monitor air quality in the hall.

As the number of people rises at events, the system will automatically increase the amount of fresh air entering the hall accordingly.

“To maximise energy efficiency, the heat from the expelled stale is transferred to the fresh incoming air. In doing so the heat loss is minimised keeping heating costs to a minimum,” trustees told the National Lottery Fund.

“Kennet Valley Hall has, for the last 90 years, provided the sole venue in the local community area for weddings, funeral wakes, children's parties.

"It is also the home of the local cricket club and provides an annexe for the local primary school who use the hall and adjacent recreation ground for the PE aspects of their curriculum,” their application continues.

The Heat Exchanger 'at heart of the system' uses sensors to control the rate of air change. The sensor detects CO2 in the outgoing air and then increase air flow in response.

A parish council spokesman said: “Given the anxiety about transmission that is going to linger for a very long while to come, there will be serious issues about ventilation, especially with the hirers, so the plan ticks many boxes.”

Once the installation is completed the hall's trustees plan to advertise the system and communicate directly with the hall's users to ensure that they are well-informed and can enjoy use of the hall and the variety of activities that it offers.

The hall's trustees say they are grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund for the award.