Campaigners call the council to ‘give Vestry Hall back’ to a Sheffield community

ACORN, a community-based union, has been campaigning for Sheffield City Council to use Vestry Hall, in the heart of Burngreave in Sheffield, as a “much-needed community space” since last autumn as they say residents of the ward have nowhere to go while the building is “so underused”.

Mishanth Feinstein, a local organiser at ACORN, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the “Take Back Vestry Hall” campaign had been launched to use the building properly in one of Sheffield’s most deprived areas.

He said: “It’s a spectacular building but it’s underused – I think in the month of October it was used about 14 per cent of the time. That’s just the main hall… They spent £3million refurbishing it in the 2010s but…

“It was the community’s money and it meant to be a building for the community, or should be at least. But at the minute there’s nothing really happening there.

“In an area such as Burngreave, really deprived, the biggest issue is the lack of community facilities, lack of children’s facilities. The lack of facilities where different cultures can meet…

“The potential of that (Vestry Hall) is it’s a really central location, it has fantastic facilities inside, you can have all sorts of things going on from community groups to whatever you want.

“We want it to be used as a community centre.”

He added they were campaigning for Vestry Hall to be free for community groups as it’s just “too expensive” which is the main reason it’s not being booked up usually.

He said: “If you look into booking it for a couple of hours, it could cost you a hundred pounds. It’s unaffordable for local groups.

“We also want the community to run it.”

Mr Feinstein said local councillors were in favour of their demands.

Cllr Safiya Saeed (Burngreave, Labour) told the LDRS that she was interested “in creating a link between the community and the council”.

She said: “Vestry Hall needs to become accessible to all the community to use. Working together is the key to addressing this issue.”

The LDRS has approached the council for comment and Cllr Tom Hunt, the leader of Sheffield City Council, said: “Vestry Hall is available for any member of the community to hire.

“We know how important it is for local residents to have access to quality community centres and services.

“That is why we are currently undertaking a full review of all of our community buildings – including Vestry Hall – and we are working with the city’s voluntary sector to review our Community Asset Transfer Policy.”

Vestry Hall, a Grade II listing Jacobean architecture, was built in 1846 to accommodate the Brightside Bierlow Vestry which was the organisation responsible for administering the Poor Law in this part of Sheffield, the Sheffield Museum website states.

After being used for offices and meeting spaces for public officials, Vestry Hall became a feeding station and a gas mask distribution centre during the Second World War.

After the war, it became a community hub, and while it closed its doors for a couple of years in 1997 – due to structural problems and a leaking roof – Vestry Hall is open now