ARE you sitting comfortably?
Well, if you’re heading to St Mary’s Parish Hall, in Barnard Castle, for an event, you certainly will be.
Rather than buy new chairs, the parish hall committee arranged for 62 seats to be reupholstered instead.
The project cost £2,800. The parish hall committee raised £800 with the four Barnard Castle county councillors each giving £500 from their neighbourhood budgets.
The hall is used by a variety of community groups including Smuffies mother and toddlers, The Barnard Castle Christian Fellowship, Slimming World and Scottish Country dancing.
The church also uses the hall for fundraising and a range of social events.
Clare Trevett, of the parish hall committee, said the refurbished chairs were at least 30 years old.
“They have been well used and well sat upon, but rather than buy new ones, we decided to have them reupholstered.”
The work was done by dale upholsterer Steve Smith.
“He has done the job really well,” added Ms Trevett.
The new-look chairs now sit alongside others which have recently been donated to the hall, allowing the committee to run events with a capacity of 150 people.
Next on the agenda for the parish hall committee is the revamp of the downstairs Guild Room, with new windows and carpeting planned along with partitions and an upgrade to the heating.
