A community and their MP will join together to reopen their village hall after a £35,000 project.

It is a new stage in the first such work on Hawkinge Village Hall since it opened 80 years ago.

Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins will take part in the opening ceremony at 2pm next Monday.

The project was led by Hawkinge Village Hall Management Committee, which installed a wall and roof insulation and a toilet for the disabled.

The work was the second phase of a scheme to upgrade the building, which has not had any work done since the 1930s.

Part of the building’s exterior was refurbished in Phase 1, thanks to a local authority grant, and some insulation was installed.

Funding for Phase 2 partly came from the committee’s own reserves, £14,500 from fundraising events.

Another £1,500 came from Hawkinge Town Council, £5,000 from Shepway District Council and £14,000 from the Veolia Environmental Trust, the community projects branch of recycling and waste company Veolia Environmental Services.

The hall, in Canterbury Road, is used by more than 12 groups regularly, including the WI, brownies and gardening, dog, sugar craft and patchwork clubs.

It is also used for meetings and private events and is often fully booked.

Anthony de Ste Croix , chairman of the management committee, said: “The refurbishment is down to the dedicated and hard work of a small number of committee members who have staged events including quiz nights, race nights, bingo and crafts shows.

“Community spirit is alive and kicking in Hawkinge.”

Mr Collins added; “I know that a lot of local groups use the hall’s facilities already and the improvements will put it even closer to the heart of our thriving local community.”

Paul Taylor executive director of VET, said; “Halls like this are a vital part of people’s lives and it is one of our priorities to support projects to improve them.”

Despite the name of the hall Hawkinge has become a town, gaining the status in November 2011 after the population rose to about 9,000.