LANSDOWN Hall – Stroud’s own community hall – is getting better and better, thanks to £105,000 worth of recent grants awarded by three separate donors.

A £45,000 grant from Biffa has paid for air-to-water heating pumps to transform the efficiency of the central heating system, new radiators and extra insulation.

It also paid for a new draught-proof glass entrance lobby in the popular ground floor gallery, in response to public feedback, saving even more energy.

The town council bought the community hall in 2010 to save it from closure and it is run by a charitable trust.

Last year major improvements were completed and now more are on the cards.

Gloucestershire Environmental Trust (GET) gave £30,000 towards extensive repairs to the roof, the gutter and downpipe system, windows and badly-damaged stonework.

This is in addition to £30,000 awarded from GET for the works to the gallery in 2011-12. The GET grants are paid out of landfill tax contributions donated by Cory Environmental.

Garfield Weston Foundation awarded Lansdown Hall £30,000 which, along with some funds from Biffa and the town council, will pay for a new equipment store/ green room.

Work is due to start on this later this autumn.

The pedestrian entrance to Bank Gardens from the High Street has undergone a major refit. The badly eroded old stone piers have been renovated using a lot of newly carved limestone, the entrance has been widened and the pathway into the gardens leading up to Lansdown Hall’s entrance levelled so it is now accessible for all.

Cllr Steve Hurrell, chair of the Lansdown Hall Working Group, said: “These recent grants have already begun to make a huge difference to the condition of the hall, which will really benefit its users.” To find out what’s on and how to book the hall facilities, see lansdownhall.org