East Bergholt CIL Grant Application
Lambe School Kitchen Refurbishment
Summary
The Lambe School charity is seeking a grant of £14,4750 (including VAT) for
improvements to and refurbishment of the Lambe School kitchen.
The Lambe School is a small hall run by a board of trustees for the
benefit of East Bergholt residents.
The trustees are undertaking a programme of work to upgrade the hall
facilities in an effort to attract a greater range of users.
The kitchen area in the main hall is of particular concern, with the lack of
cupboard doors both a safety concern, the badly marked worktops
visually unappealing and the floor stained. The cooker is inefficient.
Current users have complained that the catering facilities in the smaller
hall are inadequate.
If approved the grant would be used to improve both kitchen areas.
Local tradespeople and local companies will be used wherever possible.
It is hoped that work will be complete by the end of February 2026.
Details of the costing are shown in Appendix A
Lambe School accounts are shown in Appendix B
A list of current hall users can be found in Appendix C
Confirmation from the Lambe School trustees can be found in Appendix D.
This bid has been prepared in accordance with the CIL notes as set out on the
Parish Council webpage as recently amended.

Background
The Lambe School is a small hall with a capacity 60 run by a board of trustees
for the benefit of the community – registered charity No 310422.
The building is grade II listed.
The school was originally endowed by Mistress Lettice Dykes in 1589, with the
foundation created via a deed on September 25
th
1594 by Edward Lambe (Lord
of the village manor of Illaries).
The building was restored and refurbished in 1970s which included the current
kitchen area.
Many groups such as the U3a, Bridge Club and the Parish Council use the
building on a regular basis. However, the trustees are conscious that the
majority of users are retired, not reflecting the age profile of our village
(particularly given the new housing developments). It is hoped that by
refreshing and improving the facilities at the hall this age imbalance can be
addressed.
The trustees have embarked on a programme of work to maintain and upgrade
the facilities which are now looking a little tired and dated. New paper towel
dispensers to replace roller towels, new mirrors and baby changing table have
been provided. Business grade broadband has recently been installed.
Maintenance work as suggested in our Quinquennial report prepared by Roger
Balmer Design is ongoing. Some internal and external decorating is proposed.
An energy consultant has provided advice on some minor improvements which
will be done and include new door curtains to improve heat retention.
The disabled toilet facilities will be improved.
All of this will either be funded by the trust or through various grants.
The state of the current kitchen is off putting to many potential hirers in
particularly when compared to the facilities provided by other halls in the
surrounding area.

The Kitchen Area
The majority of base units in the kitchen are now open as through necessity
the doors have been removed or in one case screwed shut
There is open shelving on one wall and cutlery stored in open tray on worktop.
This is both a hygiene and child safety concern.
The worktops are badly marked and not of modern-day standards.
The flooring is stained and needs replacing.
The small cooker is inefficient.
The small kitchenette area in the lower hall used for hot drinks has no proper
worktop and a very small sink that is impossible to fill kettle directly from.
A full commercial type kitchen is not required for this size building but the
catering facilities do need to be serviceable and hygienic. It is thought current
kitchen is at best borderline compliant.
Babergh District Council have confirmed that no planning permission or Listed
Building Consent is required as the improvements to the kitchen are not
structural in nature.
Current Kitchen showing unsafe storage, removed doors and open shelving

Proposed Work
To keep plumbing and electrical costs to a minimum the new design utilised the
existing layout. A simple shaker style in an FSC wood which is paintable has
been chosen.
As there are no local kitchen companies three national firms were contacted:
Wickes, Magnet and Howdens.
Wickes and Magnet could offer a fitting service. Howdens are trade suppliers
so Rob Steele (a village resident) was asked to quote for fitting.
All three quotes were similar in value.
The trustees prefer the Howdens/ Steele quote as this has a degree of
flexibility and utilises a local tradesman.
The work will take two weeks and would start 9
th
February 2026. During the
refurbishment the upper hall will need to be out of operation so the lower hall
(with improved kitchenette facilities) will be offered free of charge to those
displaced. The booking secretary / caretaker is happy with this proposal.

Proposed Kitchen
.

Appendix A – Costing and Quotes
The grant is for a total of £14,750 including VAT.
Work Supplier Cost
Kitchen units and appliances Howdens £ 6,921
Fitting and Decorating R Steele £4,741
Cupboard Shelves R Steele £ 300
Vinyl Flooring Manningtree Tiles £ 855
Microwave Cookers TBD £ 300
Minor Electrical Work N Anderson £ 120
Replacement Taps R Steele £ 156
Kitchenette Cupboard Fitting R Steele £ 150
Sundries (including contingency) Various £ 1,207
Total £14,750
As all figures are estimates under Sundries an allowance has been made in the
bid for price increases.

Howdens Estimate

R Steele Estimate

Manningtree Tiles and Flooring Quote

R Steele Quote – Replacement Taps

Other Quotes

Appendix B – Lambe School

Accounts
As submitted to the Charity’s Commission.
Accounts to the end of March 2025 are scheduled to be approved in October.

Appendix C – Current Hall Users
The Parish Council
Horticultural Society
Yoga group
Music Group
The Art Group
Sound Bathing
U3a – Art Group
U3a – Keep Fit
U3a Coffee Mornings
Heartwatch
Craft Group
Bridge Club
Mobile Hairdresser
Bowls Club
NHS B-Well Bus and Rural Coffee van
Private hire for birthdays, anniversaries and wakes

Appendix D – Trustee Minutes
Trustees of the Lambe School
Charity No 310422
Minutes
Committee Meeting 8
th
July 2025 at 4.30pm
1.Apologies for Absence
None – all present
2.Minutes of meeting held 8
th
April 2025
Signed by James as a true record
3.Chairman’s Report
Nothing not otherwise on agenda
4.Secretary’s Report
Nothing not otherwise on agenda
5.Treasurer’s Report
As tabled and attached to minutes – income exceeded outgoings
6.Maintenance issues
a)Painting of path edge at rear – completed and bill for £200 now submitted a lot of
this cost being the specialist paint required
b)Mirrors and towel dispensers etc for toilets and baby changing facilities – all now
installed and looking smart
c)Health and safety risk assessment – James still to arrange meeting with Be and
husband Matt to complete survey and produced document
d)Notice board – key now available in box in kitchen cupboard. Linda has had one go
at cleaning Perspex and will try again but look at replacing? Woodwork needs
stain/varnish Bob said he would do this
e)Hedge at front –Bob getting the contactor who does his hedge to do the required
work on this and other things the gardener ask for assistance on

f)Moss – inspection showed that this looks to be under control – check again in autumn
g)Kitchen floor replacement or complete replacement required – Emma had asked
that the floor be replaced as its very worn and difficult to clean. After an inspection it
was decided that the whole kitchen was in need of total refit as worktops worn, open
storage not being very hygienic and the general tired appearance of the facility. Bob
and Nigel said that there was the possibility of this being grant aided by the Parish
council. Linda undertook to ask some kitchen firms to quote for the project and put a
bid together for this work
h)Improvement of thermal prosperities of building – in asking Sallie Davies about
grant aid her email mentioned that grants were available towards this. It seems
sensible to investigate further as don’t want to install kitchen to then have additional
work required. Steve said he had already looked at his for football club and not got
very far as no one at County Council seems available to help. Linda will do some
investigations as to what might be involved but given that building is listed this might
restrict what could be done
i)Curtains – Linda said that the curtains particularly in the upper hall were very stained
and hung unevenly at bottom and above the window cill giving a very drab and tired
appearance to the space. Be suggested that one solution might be to lower the rails
and clean the curtains but in view of the likely cost of this work and that curtains
might have shrunk due to previous cleaning efforts Linda undertook to look at what
replacements would cost and obtain samples. She was keen on a bold design but other
thought plain might be a better option.
j)Disabled facilities – unfortunately Emma has not yet met with the disabled lady that
was going to offer advice and Linda had held off asking John Price to have a look.
She would now contact him with a view to looking at firstly ramp in lower hall (not
suitable for Linda’s walking frame but may be okay for wheelchair?) and then toilet
facilities – may be possible to move toilet round in ladies to make wheelchair transfer
possible?
k)Any other issues – after doing inspection of outside as detailed below a wasp nest
was discovered at rear of building near kitchen. Linda undertook to find suitable
contactor to deal with it.
7.Quinquennial Report – walk round to consider work listed – Linda had made herself a
spreadsheet listing items which as used as an aid memoir and this is attached to minutes
for ongoing review
8.Conversion to CIO – submission to Charity Commissioners – James still to do and
will speak to Nigel to ensure everything okay with the document
9.Broadband – installed by Gigaclear on 3
rd
July and account set up by James with
password LambeS1594! Parental controls applied to account during meeting and speed
and accessibility tried out all appearing satisfactory.

10.Web site/Facebook – Be still working on this check with Emma which users would like
to include details of their activities. Music licence was discussed and decided that
including details for requirement for paid events in hirers conditions would suffice.
11.Any other business – none
Date next meeting – Tuesday 11
th
October following AGM which will be held at 4.30pm
Meeting closed at 17.50