On Friday 16th April, Member of Parliament for Clwyd South, Simon Baynes MP, made a socially distanced visit to see some of the recent improvements to Llangollen Town Hall. He met with Charlie Jones, Facilities Officer, and Katherine Susanthan who are currently reupholstering the seats in the balcony.
Since Charlie Jones became the Facilities Officer of the Town Hall in 2018, she and volunteers, supported by the Friends of Llangollen Town Hall, have been undertaking restoration work in the Town Hall including replacing the stage curtains, cleaning the lead pane windows, repainting the lobby and cleaning its chandelier. The current project of reupholstering the balcony seats will take 2 months and the skills of local professional upholsterer Katherine Susanthan, assisted by Charlie Jones, are making a welcome transformation of the look and comfort of the balcony seats.
Charlie Jones said:
“Dinas Bran gave us their old curtains and thanks to them we were able to re-make and up-cycle them for the stage. We had donations of pretty vintage china that we use instead of plastic or paper which reduces waste and looks nice. Our old Town Hall chairs were dated and uncomfortable and a school in Ruthin were throwing them away, so a volunteer brought them from Ruthin in a trailer and a group of volunteers from the groups who use the Town Hall cleaned and painted them. The old Town Hall chairs have been up cycled with chalk paint to show what can be done with them and they would be great as spare chairs.
“We’re always looking for volunteers and welcome any contribution they can make, however small because it all makes a difference to the community we live in. Each of us has something to give, and the work our volunteers have done is a gift to the community that makes a real difference. I can’t thank them enough.”
Simon Baynes MP said:
“It was a pleasure to meet Charlie and Katherine and see the great improvements they are making to the balcony seating. This project along with the other improvements that Charlie has overseen are hugely important to securing the future of Llangollen’s much loved Town Hall and its central role in the heritage and culture of the town. I look forward to visiting again soon and supporting them in their work in the future.”
