Stoke Fleming Village Hall has received a £20,000 cheque which was presented by South Devon MP Caroline Voaden.

The money is to be used to buy solar panels for the roof.

Chair of the trustees John Belli said: “The hall is the hub of the community, the whole of Stoke Fleming and the outlying area.

“We use it for so many different events.

“We've got a bar here, we do dancing-Jenny Thomas, who's moved into the village, coordinates dancers from Strictly Come Dancing, and the dance classes, and she's got people from all over Devon, never mind about Stoke Fleming here, which is great.

“Everyone in Stoke Fleming actually contributes to the hall in some way or other.

“We've got 13 trustees, and every one of them's got expertise in one area or another, and all complement one another.

The hall rents out area space and we're a charity, so we're not running at a profit but we do have to instigate fundraisers to actually maintain a building that's 25 years old.

Obviously, as I said, moving with the times and the environment and the green agenda, we were putting the solar panels on the hall, and we really couldn't afford to. to pay for them unless we had a grant so the lottery fund is a godsend.

It will pay for the entirety of the solar panels but it won't pay for batteries, inverters or car charging points so we are going to be raising more money.

“We applied for a grant and got £20,000 pounds which was roughly the cost of the solar panels. Having said that, there’s, scaffolding, maintenance, etc.

We're going to be outlaying probably double that by the time we finish.

There are two main rooms with a large kitchen and servery.

The building has an automated door for disabled access and there is wifi available.

The car park has 36 bays including disabled spaces.

There is a patio area and it is next to a large playing field with changing rooms which are available to be hired from the parish council.

The village hall also houses a small but well-stocked library which can be accessed from a separate entrance and it is also the location of the village’s defibrillator.

Caroline Voaden went on a guided tour and met the villagers.

She remarked: “Every community needs somewhere where they can get together to celebrate, to commiserate, to just be together and that's the nature of community, isn't it?

“I think village halls are absolutely crucial and seeing the contribution the lottery has given for the solar panels is great because it means it can reduce their energy bills, it makes them more sustainable, but it also gives another reason for people to come together and celebrate this as an achievement for the village.

“I think what they've achieved here is astonishing, raising the money to build it and now getting this money from the lottery.

“They're clearly really committed to this as a venue.

“It shows that they want to sustain it, and it's a really busy hall.”