Cookham Festival donates more than £6,000 to Pinder Hall renovation project

More than £6,000 has been donated to a project to refurbish a long-standing hall in Cookham.

Every two years the Cookham Festival takes place to raise funds to promote the arts in the area.

Last year’s festival saw more than £20,000 raised to donate to village schools and art projects.

The committee behind the popular festival has now announced that it has been able to make a further donation of £6,473 to the Pinder Hall Renovation Project.

The recently launched project was initiated to raise funds for repairs to the building.

The committee has also agreed that the hall, situated in Lower Road in Cookham, will be the main beneficiary of the fundraising from next year’s Cookham Festival, as it is a venue for the arts and other events in the area.

Pinder Hall will also be the main venue for next year’s festival, which will take place from Friday, May 3 to Sunday, May 19 – when the hall will be an essential part of the festival programme.

Derek Bond, chairman of the Cookham Festival, said “As a committee we are delighted to support the renovation of Pinder Hall.

“The hall is an integral part of our community, hosting many artistic and creative events which fit well with Festival’s remit of supporting arts and culture within our community.”

On behalf of the Pinder Hall committee, Andrew Coulter thanked the festival for their donation.

He said: “We are working on a major project to make the hall fit for the local community in the 21st century, but our first priority has to be to fix some immediate problems, including securing the gable end, replacing electrical wiring and keeping Pinder Hall in action until our longer term plan can be delivered.

“The donation will go a long way to help achieve this essential first step.”