The following article was published in the March 2007 edition of the News. For photos of the occasion taken by Jim Cracknell visit www.jamesc51.btinternet.co.uk.
The Abington Institute was closed in 2006 for nine months while a major extension and refurbishment was being carried out. The villages of Great and Little Abington had been striving to give their village hall, the Institute, a make-over for many years. A new set of plans was drawn up and during 2005 promises were made for the major part of the funding required from the Big Lottery Fund, Granta Park, South Cambridgeshire District Council and WREN. Valiant efforts were made to increase the funds from local sources resulting, by the great generosity of many villagers, in 25% of the final funds, well over £100,000, being raised from local people and businesses.
The building work has now come to an end and the Institute had its grand opening on 10 February 2007. It now has excellent modern facilities appropriate for the 21st century and the needs of the community. The new facilities are the main hall, meeting room with modern equipment, terrace, new kitchen, changing rooms, showers and disabled facilities. At the centre is the large light foyer where a community cafe operates with Internet access available on two computers. The excellent facilities will be used by new and established community organisations.
The Abington Institute was built by Mr Emerson in 1909 primarily for the working men of the villages of Great and Little Abington. He was the squire and owner of the Abington Hall Estate; the majority of the houses in the two villages were owned by the estate and most of the villagers were employed by it. The building was then a simple timber-framed structure consisting of a hall with a small lean-to building on the side.
The Abington Hall Estate was sold in 1929 and the building was bought by Robert Owen Roberts, an absentee landlord who also bought many of the cottages in the village. It was rented by a descendant of the Mortlock family in order that it could remain as a community facility for the village. However after Mr Roberts died in the early 1950s, the building was again sold in 1954 and purchased by the village for use as a village hall and since then has been run as a charitable trust.
By the 1970s the building was in need of improvement and additional facilities. Money was raised to add extensions: a kitchen, lavatories and changing rooms for sports clubs. These were flat-roofed extensions and again by the 1990s the building was in need of renovation to bring it up to modern standards. A group called RAISE was set up to run the project; after valiant efforts to raise money locally and unsuccessful bids for major grants, the project was put on hold but with a vital pot of money in the trust's bank account. This nest egg proved to be a good foundation for the latest push which has resulted in such a good facility being achieved by the village.
Jennifer Hirsh (Institute administrator)