Soper Hall Community Centre Ltd © 2011 - A Company Limited by Guarantee No 07452019 ……… dedicated to re- vitalising The Soper Hall

Part of Caterham History

The Soper Hall will be 100 years old in 2012. Building commenced in 1911 to construct offices for Caterham Urban District Council. Of the total build cost of £4,500, £1,200 was raised by Public Subscription to incorporate a memorial hall to honour William Garland Soper, a prominent Caterham citizen and Chairman of the Council from 1898-1908, when he died.

TV  Star Lucy Speed signs up in support

In 1988 the area to the rear of the SoperHall

was sold to develop the Church Walk Shopping Precinct, following the  Council re-location to offices in Oxted.

The Soper Hall became a community venue

with halls to hire, some commercial tenants and

eventually home to the Citizens Advice Bureau, Tandridge Volunteer Service Council and Talking Newspapers for the Blind.

Since 1996 many schemes and plans have been designed, discussed, and put out to consultation.....none of them has ever been implemented, mainly for financial reasons.

Tandridge District Council

In November 2009, when rumours surfaced that Tandridge District Council were thinking about selling the site for development to stop the annual losses they were incurring on running the building as a venue, Chris Windridge, Chairman of A Better Caterham, wrote and suggested an alternative.....Asset Transfer to a Community Group.

Tandridge District Council facilitated the setting up of a group to explore the possibilities, and The Soper Hall Group was formed in January 2010 and disbanded in October 2010. The Soper Hall Community Centre Ltd, a company limited by guarantee, run by the community, for the community was formed in November 2010, to bid for the Asset Transfer.

July 21st 2011 - Tandridge District, in a Free Vote, voted 31 for, 0 against, 9 Abstentions and 2 Apologies for absence, in favour of a motion to asset transfer the building known as Soper Hall to The Soper Hall Community Centre Ltd.

Our commiserations go to Caterham Baptist Church, and any help we can offer with accommodation during their relocation or expansion will be glady offered.

The next stage of the journey is for us to raise funds to meet the £50,000 each year for the next two years that TDC are giving us, to eliminate the need for the underwriting that David Gold and Surrey County Council have pledged to provide..... We are extremely confident that the need for them to have to make up any shortfall will never exist.

The journey begins here.......... If you would like to make that journey with us - get in touch.

A Brief History of the Project

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