Beatrice Drewe Trust

General Information & What’s On
We welcome enquiries for bookings from prospective user groups.
Improvements have been made to the premises and both the Main Hall and the Youth Club are available for bookings.  The current rate for the hire of the Hall is £7 per hour and a special rate of £10 if the use of the kitchen is included.  For further details and to view the premises please telephone our Caretaker, Tom Semple, at the Village Hall – tel: 01580 200253 or 01580 201427.

The Beatrice Drewe Trust is a Charity which owns and manages Ticehurst Village Institute and its Recreation Ground.  The land was owned by Mr Campbell Newington and the Hall was built in 1901 and maintained by him until his death in 1929.  The property then passed to his only child, Beatrice Drewe.  In 1932 she set up a Charitable Trust bearing her name.  It was endowed with sufficient funds to meet the running expenses of that time.  Trustees were appointed and the Institute and Recreation Ground served the inhabitants of the Parish of Ticehurst and its ecclesiastical boundaries, which included Stonegate and Flimwell.

In the 1970’s it was decided to hand the Trust over to the Parish Council, who agreed to act as Corporate Trustee of the original endowment, in conjunction with the Charity Commission.

A new constitution was adopted in May 2005 and a Management Trust was created.  Ticehurst Parish Council remains the Custodian Trustee of the Charity property, but the Management Trust is responsible for the management of the Charity.  The Committee of managing Trustees consist of four elected members and eight appointed members from user organisations.

As previously, the property is partly maintained by grants allocated by the Parish Council and partly from rental income.  The recreational facilities have been improved in the last 12 months, thanks to the fund-raising efforts of the Ticehurst Young People’s Recreation Project (TYPRP), which has provided a multi-court, skateboarding area and additions to the children’s playground. [See the Planning Inspector's views here]

We are extremely grateful to Rother District Council, the Local Network Fund (Action in Rural Sussex) and the Sussex Police for awarding us grants towards our Project.  In 2006, we were awarded £10,000 from the East Sussex Community Fund, which enabled us to complete the surround to our Multi-court.  We also acknowledge financial support from the Youth Service based at Uplands Community College.  Unfortunately, we no longer have a Youth Club in Ticehurst.  Junior football practice is organised on Saturday mornings on the Recreation Ground.

We could not have achieved these improvements to our Recreation Ground without the loyal support of local groups and individuals who have been most generous in contributing to the success of our investment in the welfare of our young people.

Recently “Awards for All” from the Big Lottery Fund have awarded the Beatrice Drewe Trust £7,950 for the wood-block floor refurbishment in the Village Hall.  We are thrilled with this award, which will make a great difference to the appearance of our hall and provide further scope for our enjoyment and social activities.  The Hall Floor is currently being refurbished by Nutwood Flooring of Crowborough and should be finished by the end of January.